Inheritance Tax (IHT) receipts for April to July 2025 have been £3.1bn, which is £0.2bn larger than the identical interval final year, in accordance to the most recent figures from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
As Evelyn Partners head of property planning Ian Dyall factors out, the July determine implies that inheritance tax revenues for this financial year so far are working about 6.9% forward of the identical interval final year.
“Monthly receipts information reliably exhibits how fiscal drag is bringing extra wealth into the scope of IHT, however the numbers that actually matter for wealthier households are these displaying the general state of the general public funds, as a result of that’s what prompted final year’s Budget overhaul of IHT guidelines, and it’s not unthinkable that the switch of wealth might be on the desk once more on the subsequent Budget.
Dyall highlighted that the dilution of enterprise and agricultural property reliefs doesn’t come into drive till subsequent April, and the inclusion of unspent pension belongings in estates doesn’t happen till April 2027, so we gained’t see how a lot cash they convey in by means of the Treasury door till effectively after these dates.
Key Advice & Air chief govt Will Hale additionally commented on the constant rise in IHT receipts.
“This continues a big upward pattern, with receipts growing by greater than 50% over the previous 5 years and 2025 set to be a file year by way of taxes raised by means of this mechanism.
“Furthermore, bulletins across the inclusion of pension funds inside the IHT regime, musings across the potential for a restrict to be utilized on lifetime gifting and continued home value inflation implies that the federal government is taking a look at loss of life as key focus for boosting public funds shifting ahead.
Hale warned that many individuals who would fall beneath the normal definition of ‘high-net value’ are actually sleep-walking right into a scenario the place their estates might be topic to vital IHT prices.
Last month, HMRC revealed that the whole sum collected in inheritance tax had greater than doubled over the previous decade from £3.8bn in 2014/15 to £8.25bn prior to now tax year.
