Inheritance tax (IHT) receipts totalled £1.5bn between April and May, increasing by 7% year-on-year in the first two months of the tax year, HMRC has revealed.

The latest results follow a fourth consecutive annual collection record for IHT receipts, after they totalled £8.2bn in the 2024/25 tax year.

HMRC’s latest data comes after the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR)’s most recent forecast, published in the Spring Statement, predicted another record year with IHT receipts set to total £9.1bn in 2025/26. This figure is expected to surpass £14bn by 2029/30.

Director at Just Group, Stephen Lowe, said that rising IHT receipts show "no signs of running out of steam".

He stated: "Over the past four years, rising asset prices and frozen thresholds have combined in a pincer movement to drive consecutive record annual totals. The reforms announced at the Autumn Budget 2024, which included further extending the threshold freeze and tightening the exemptions for pension wealth, will likely tip more estates into paying the tax and further boost the Chancellor’s coffers."

Partner at Forvis Mazars, Paul Barham, added: "Frozen thresholds are bringing more and more estates within the web of the taxman and every month more families are finding the estates of their deceased relatives subject to the tax. While the Chancellor may soften the rules around IHT for non-doms, we also need to consider that pensions will be considered part of estates from 2027, tightening the screw even further for the ordinary Britons.

"Mitigating the tax is possible, but considered planning is required for this - especially given the rumours of further tweaks to IHT in the Autumn. Making use of allowances while you are able to is essential, as is knowing the rules around gifting."

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