People in Sussex face a cumulative inheritance tax bill of £268 million.

Some 1,184 estates across the county are liable to pay their share of the sum at an average of £226,351 each according to government figures from 2020 to 2021, the most recent available.

Inheritance tax is paid on the estate of someone who has died, but with the threshold set at £325,000, it only affects around four per cent of the UK population.

A government spokeswoman said: “More than 93 per cent of estates are forecast to have zero inheritance tax liability in the coming years.

“However, the tax raises more than £7 billion a year to help fund public services millions of us rely on daily.

“Estates of surviving spouses and civil partners can pass on up to £1 million without an inheritance tax liability – significantly more than the average UK house price of £288,000.”

Estates in West Sussex owed £142 million, those in East Sussex owed £97 million while Brighton alone owed £29 million.

It was previously rumoured that Rishi Sunak had been considering cutting the inheritance tax rate, set at a standard rate of 40 per cent.

Labour’s shadow Treasury chief secretary Darren Jones said at the time: “A year ago Liz Truss trashed the economy with unfunded tax cuts.

“Now Rishi Sunak is doing what Liz Truss wants.

“Abolishing inheritance tax – which 96 per cent of people never pay – is an unfunded tax cut of £7.2 billion per year.

“The biggest threat to the economy is the Conservative Party.”

He wrote to the Chancellor demanding answers on how any change might be paid for.

However chancellor Jeremy Sunak has now seemingly ruled that out.

Asked about a potential cut to death duties, the Chancellor told GB News: “I’m basically saying that I don’t think it’s going to be possible to do any big tax cuts."

READ MORE: Inheritance tax ‘punitive’ and ‘unfair’, says minister as Sunak mulls change

Pressed on whether he was ruling it out, he said: “No tax cuts are possible in a substantial way at the moment.

“It’s not just inheritance tax, it’s income tax, it’s all the different taxes that people look at.”