HMRC has taken £3.5bn in receipts for inheritance tax (IHT) in the period between April and September, new figures have shown.

This is £400m higher than the same period in 2021.

HMRC had received £2.9bn in IHT receipts from the start of the financial year up to the end of August, meaning around a further £600m in IHT receipts was taken over the course of August.

So far this year, a record high figure for receipts in June can be attributed to a small number of higher-value payments than usual, HMRC added.

“It is no surprise that IHT continues to rake in ever-increasing receipts for the Treasury,” commented group communications director at Just Group, Stephen Lowe. “Frozen thresholds and soaring property prices that added £1bn of housing wealth every day to the estates of over-55 homeowners since the start of the pandemic have combined to tip more estates into paying IHT.

“The Nil Rate Bands – the size of the estate that can be left without paying any IHT – are due to remain frozen until 2026 and with government scrabbling to fill a fiscal hole, the likelihood of any increase in IHT thresholds before then seems vanishingly small.”

Tax partner at Evelyn Partners, Julia Rosenbloom, highlighted that new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will be want to “preserve cash cows”, such as IHT receipts, until stability is restored to the nation’s finances.

“When outgoing prime minister Liz Truss promised tax cuts and a review of the tax system during her party leadership campaign in the summer, some had hoped that IHT would be reduced or even abolished entirely,” Rosenbloom said.

“Given the turbulent events of the last few weeks and the fact we will soon have another new prime minister, both these scenarios seem unlikely to happen anytime soon. Following Chancellor Hunt’s reversal of most measures announced in his predecessor’s mini-Budget, he has warned of tough times ahead and has trailed the prospect of tax rises. We will need to wait and see what this means for IHT specifically.”

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