IHT receipts reach record £8.5bn in 2025/26

Inheritance tax (IHT) receipts totalled £8.5bn in the 2025/26 financial year, marking a fifth consecutive annual record, HMRC has revealed.

In March, IHT receipts totalled £755m, a £200m increase year-on-year for the month.

Looking ahead, IHT receipts are forecast to keep rising, with tighter IHT policies announced in 2024’s Autumn Budget expected to push collections to £14.5bn in the 2030/31 financial year.

This would mark a 67 per cent increase in collections over a five-year period, according to data from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).

Head of estate planning at Evelyn Partners, Ian Dyall, said that while the latest data is not a surprise, the rate of increase looks to be slowing, with the latest total being less than previous annual IHT rises.

He added: "For years, IHT revenues have been boosted quite significantly as frozen nil rate bands steadily draw more estates and assets into the tax net as values increased.

"The backdrop now, however, is slightly altered. London house prices, which have historically acted as a big engine of IHT exposure, have cooled noticeably over recent years.

"Official data yesterday revealed the largest property value decline in inner London since the global financial crisis, with house prices in some of the most expensive London boroughs falling for the fifth month and at double-digit rates in February. Across the South East property prices have pulled back in real terms in the last few years.

"That softening is probably slowing the extent to which purely inflation-driven growth has pushed estates over IHT thresholds, particularly for those whose wealth is concentrated in property rather than diversified investments."

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