Inheritance tax receipts rose to £7.7bn between April 2025 and February 2026, a £0.1bn increase on the same period last year, data from HM Revenue and Customs has revealed.
This represents a record amount of IHT receipts, driven by higher volumes of wealth transfers following recent liable deaths, recent rises in asset values, and the government’s decisions to maintain tax free thresholds.
Just Group director, David Cooper, said: “Inheritance Tax continues to rake in record sums with the first eleven months of this financial year bringing in an additional £132mn in revenue compared to the same period last year.
“More people are finding themselves caught in the IHT net, as frozen thresholds and rising asset prices push more estates above the threshold.
“Policy changes announced at the Autumn Budget 2024, particularly the inclusion of pensions within IHT, will likely accelerate this trend as inheritance tax becomes a consideration for more people.”
Nucleus technical services director, Andrew Tully, pointed out that IHT receipts have grown by more than 50 per cent over the past five years, a trend that is predicted by OBR to continue and accelerate.
Tully attributed this rise to the freezing of nil rate bands until April 2031, rising UK property values, and planned reductions to agricultural and business reliefs from April 2026.
Also contributing to the rise, according to Tully, is the government’s plans to include pensions within IHT from 6 April 2027, with the finance bill set for Royal Assent.
“This will deliver poor outcomes for customers, beneficiaries, personal representatives, the industry, and HMRC. But it will drive further strong growth in IHT receipts after 2027,” he said.
“Taken together all of this is likely to make IHT a more relevant issue for many more families within the next five years.”
Other tax
This rise in IHT receipts contributed to gross HMRC tax and national insurance contributions receipts reaching £860.7bn between April 2025 and February 2026, an increase of £72.6bn on the same period last year.
The data detailed that receipts were higher from income tax, capital gains tax, and NICs, which rose by 13 per cent when compared to the previous year, and stamp taxes, which rose by 11 per cent.
However, both tobacco and alcohol duties were found to have fallen by 6 per cent and 2 per cent respectively.
tom.dunstan@ft.com
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