Where to Start — A Reading Guide

Eighteen pieces in total — twelve featured on the homepage, six alternative versions and methodology pieces — plus an interactive model and a downloadable Excel companion. One entry-point recommended for each kind of reader.

Pick a route

If you have five minutes

When, Not How Much. The publication's strongest single argument, distilled. The case for taxing very large intergenerational wealth transfers, anchored in the published academic literature. The relocation-irony argument that critics of the tax have not engaged with. The reframe of the actual disagreement as timing rather than amount. About 2,200 words.

If you want the question explained simply, in plain language

The Short Version. 1,500 words. AI-builder voice. What the reform is, why it matters even if you are not affected, what the publication thinks. The piece that does not assume any technical background.

If you are a UK tech founder

What the Reform Means for UK Tech. Written for a reader who follows tech but does not work in tax. Treats the reform's effect on founders, the funding stack, and the cohort the country says it wants to grow more of. Linked to the interactive model so you can substitute your own assumptions about the cohort.

If you are a venture-finance practitioner — VC, growth equity, PE in tech, EIS, LP

The Funding Stack and the Fiscal Model. Cohort-by-cohort technical depth. SAV mechanics. LP-interest illiquidity. EIS-portfolio diversification effects. PE-partner co-investment angles. Early-employee vested-equity treatment. The 25-year fiscal model that closes the piece is the publication's most substantive analytical contribution.

If you are a journalist writing about the reform

For Journalists. A working source-quality reference. Each major claim with its source, what the source establishes, what it does not establish, and the confidence level. Includes the figures the publication thinks are reliable, the figures it thinks are misleading, and the figures it thinks should not be repeated.

If you are a tax practitioner — solicitor, accountant, advising clients

For Tax Practitioners. Technical, dense, with legislative references. The substantive reform mechanics, the contested interpretation points, the open questions HMRC has not yet resolved.

If you want the publication's actual position

On the Principle. The position-taking piece. The principle of the reform is right. The strongest objection that lands is about asset-class fitness for genuine operating family businesses versus founder equity. The two-track design (threshold mechanism for founder equity, German-style conditional relief for operating family businesses) is the publication's most interesting policy proposal.

If you want to play with the numbers yourself

The Interactive Model. Every assumption is a slider. The 25-year fiscal effect of three policy options recomputes as you move them. The model is structured so you can test which assumptions matter and which do not. The "Try this" instruction tells you to set Options A and B departure rates equal and watch what happens; that is the move that tests the publication's central claim.

If you have read all of the above and want the long form

The Article. The original tax-policy register treatment. Three positions, five questions, four scenarios. About 6,000 words. The framework piece that the operational analysis sits on. The full version (with international comparators) is one click further in.

If you are interested in how this was made

Twelve Hours, Four AI Tools, One Founder — and a Four-Week Practice. The honest production story. This publication is one output of a four-week practice that has also produced three books, two smaller works, and The Many Builders — a memorial to every researcher whose work has gone into modern AI systems. If you visit one thing the practice has produced, visit that one.

If you want to engage with the publication's critics

Common Reactions. The publication's engagement with the critiques it has received before publication. Names them. Engages with them. Includes the ones the author thinks land and the ones the author thinks miss.

If you want a downloadable version

The article and the policy paper exist as PDF and Word downloads. The policy options paper (PDF) is in HMT register. The article (PDF) is the long-form treatment. The readable piece (PDF) is the tech-reader version. The Excel model is the spreadsheet version of the interactive model, with every assumption editable.

What the publication actually thinks, in three sentences

The principle of the April 2026 inheritance tax reform is right. The strongest objection that lands is about the timing of the tax (death versus realisation) rather than the amount, and a realisation-based design would deliver the same fairness with fewer of the side effects critics worry about most. The publication's most interesting policy proposal is a two-track design — threshold mechanism for founder equity, German-style conditional relief for operating family businesses — which the publication has named but not yet developed in full and which a future iteration of the work will treat at greater depth.