I also fail to see how IHT promotoes equality of opportunity. To start with I thought you meant the tax would be used in part to fund state education which would give kids a better head start, I can accept that although personally I feel the system is fine, the attitudes are wrong.
Now I'm thinking that you mean the rich people should be somehow handicapped? Like...preventing the hand down of wealth because it puts them in a better economic position. I'm not going to go too deep into my beliefs on this opinion because I don't want to give a Nazi mod some more ammo and I might be on the wrong track. Needless to say if you think that...then words cannot describe the lack of intelligence you have. I can hear your single functioning brain cell crying out for help.
A system is already in place to make the poor get more from their dead parent, i.e the nil rate band. Rich parents, being financially aware, will have already influenced the opportunity of their kids (unless they are a stingy bastard with no love in them). The way you were giving it all that I took it as read that you understood IHT? Things like the taper relief of inter vivos and PETs? These aren't loopholes known by the super rich, these are "loopholes" known by anyone with a brain. I'm sorry but if you pay tax blindly then you deserve to get raped for all you are worth. They aren't even loopholes, but regulations that have existed for hundreds of years.
These "rich kids" will have amounts stashed away in trusts, beneficiary pensions and any number of shares/properties the parent didn't want Dirty Gordon to get his hands on, they'll all have decreasing term assurances cracked on them in case of early death. More than likely they will be left with one property, the testators residence, which may be subject to IHT. Even then I would have a protection policy to cover it, why would I want my kids to pay anything? It's not like I need the money where I'm going.
Come on, what do you think old people do in their retirement apart from visit museums and try to **** the Chancellor?