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Sisters lose European tax case Sisters lose European tax battle
(40 minutes later)
Two elderly sisters from Wiltshire have lost their final battle to avoid paying a massive inheritance tax bill. Two elderly sisters have lost their final battle to avoid paying a massive inheritance tax bill.
Joyce and Sybil Burden, aged 90 and 82 respectively, have lived together in Marlborough all their lives. Joyce and Sybil Burden, aged 90 and 82 respectively, have lived together in Wiltshire all their lives.
Last year they appealed against a ruling that inheritance tax should be paid when the first of them dies. The sisters appealed to the European Court to enjoy the same tax rights as married and gay couples, which do not apply to cohabiting siblings.
The sisters said this would not happen if they were a married or gay couple. Human Rights judges in Strasbourg have now ruled against them. In a 15-2 vote, Human Rights judges in Strasbourg ruled they do not face unfair discrimination.
The Burdens started writing to the Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1976 urging that cohabiting family members should be treated the same as married couples for inheritance tax purposes. But the Grand Chamber of the court upheld an earlier human rights ruling that national governments were entitled to some discretion when deciding taxation arrangements.
When the UK Civil Partnership Act of 2004 recognised gay and lesbian couples for inheritance tax purposes, the sisters turned to the European Court of Human Rights. Legal challenge ends
Their lawyers argued that the Act breaches Human Rights Convention articles outlawing discrimination and guaranteeing the "protection of property". The decision, a major blow to the sisters, means when one of them dies the other will have to sell their four-bedroom property in Marlborough to pay the 40% inheritance tax on its value above £300,000.
The sisters lost the case by the narrowest of margins - a 4-3 vote of the seven-judge court. Since 1976, the sisters have written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer the day before every Budget, pleading for recognition under the tax rules as a cohabiting couple.
After hearing their appeal, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has now ruled against them. When the UK Civil Partnership Act of 2004 first recognised gay and lesbian couples for inheritance tax purposes, the sisters turned to the European Court of Human Rights.
When one dies, the surviving sister will have to sell their four-bedroom house, valued in 2006 at £875,000, to pay the 40% inheritance tax on its value above £300,000. They argued that the Act violated Human Rights Convention articles outlawing discrimination and guaranteeing the "protection of property".
In 2006, the Burdens lost the case by a 4-3 majority, although three members of the court described their inheritance tax plight as "awful" and "particularly striking".
But the appeal hearing on Tuesday, before a larger panel, produced a more decisive 15-2 majority against the sisters.
The ruling marks the end of the road for the sisters' legal bid.
After losing the first human rights case in 2006, Joyce Burden commented: "If we were lesbians we would have all the rights in the world. But we are sisters, and it seems we have no rights at all."