Fool Poll: Taxes We Hate The Most

In the run-up to Gordon Brown's budget we asked Fools which taxes they hated the most.

Gordon Brown announced a cut in the basic rate of income tax with a great flourish at the end of his budget speech, but a recent poll suggests that Fools probably wish he had focused more on inheritance and council taxes.

In the run-up to the budget, we polled 1,851 Fools about which taxes they disliked the most. We discovered that the most hated taxes are council tax and inheritance tax, closely followed by stamp duty.

Sadly, Brown only announced a modest change in inheritance tax, increasing the threshold from £285,000 to £300,000 per estate. Even worse, Brown's budget may trigger increases in council tax. That's because the chancellor has increased landfill tax for waste -- councils may find it tough to recycle more and will just have to pay higher landfill tax instead.

The poll also revealed that three out of four Brits believe that income tax and VAT are the two fairest taxes. That said, however the tax revenue is raised, nine out of ten Fools reckon they are not getting good value for their money.