HM Revenue & Customs (HRMC) in the UK has reported that inheritance tax (IHT) receipts for the period April 2025–January 2026 totalled £7.1bn.
This figure is around £100m higher than the same period last year.
Commenting on the increase, Bentley Reid Wealth Management director Mike Winstanley said: “The latest HMRC figures show IHT receipts continuing their upward trajectory. We have now seen consecutive record-level years for IHT, and the direction of travel is clear.
“In practice, this is being driven by a prolonged freeze in the nil-rate band and residence nil-rate band, combined with sustained growth in property values and investment portfolios over the past decade. As a result, more families who would not traditionally have considered themselves exposed to IHT are now firmly within scope.
“For clients, the impact is increasingly material. IHT at 40% is not marginal, it meaningfully alters the intergenerational transfer of wealth. Where an estate sits at £3m–5m, the tax liability can comfortably exceed £1m without structured planning in place.”
HMRC’s broader figures for the tax take and National Insurance (NI) contributions over the same time frame show gross receipts of £784.9bn. This represents an increase of £65.6bn on the equivalent period in the previous year.
On a cash basis, the authority recorded higher inflows from Income Tax, Capital Gains Tax and NI contributions, which together increased by £52bn to £460.7bn.
Value added tax receipts rose by £9bn to £154.3bn in the same ten-month period, while stamp duty and related stamp taxes were up £1.9bn, totalling £17bn.
Business tax receipts for April 2025–January 2026 were £81.8bn, a £1.8bn increase from than the same period last year.
“UK inheritance tax receipts reach £7.1bn in latest HRMC data” was originally created and published by The Accountant, a GlobalData owned brand.
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