Until the Celtic Tiger, setting aside an inheritance for your children was firmly categorised as a Rich People’s Problem. Or one faced by families in the UK, the US, and continental Europe, where a longer history of wealth meant a greater tradition of transferring wealth from one middle-class generation to the next.
Until the Celtic Tiger, setting aside an inheritance for your children was firmly categorised as a Rich People’s Problem. Or one faced by families in the UK, the US, and continental Europe, where a longer history of wealth meant a greater tradition of transferring wealth from one middle-class generation to the next.
American talk show host Oprah Winfrey made pop culture history in 2004 when she told her studio audience that each of them was getting a new car. Predictably, joyous pandemonium erupted. But as the 276 audience members later discovered, the devil was in the detail: not only were their cars donated by General Motors as an advertising stunt, but they faced tax bills of as much $7,000 (€6,594) apiece.
Thanks to a tight labour market, the nation’s freelancers, contractors and business owners are out the door with work. So much so, that the annual sense of dread that accompanies the looming Halloween deadline for filing and paying income taxes is even more heightened.