HMRC Inheritance Tax Archives - Chartered Accountants

UK inheritance tax nil rate band 2026 frozen at £325,000 — house key on stack of £50 notes with frost effect

April 20, 2026Business

UK Inheritance Tax Nil Rate Band 2026: Current Thresholds & Who Pays

The UK inheritance tax nil rate band 2026 still sits at £325,000 — exactly where it landed back in April 2009. Seventeen years. No rise. While average UK house prices have roughly doubled in that window, the threshold has stayed politely still, like a guest who arrived early and refuses to leave. And that frozen […]

Executor completing IHT400 inheritance tax return guidance form at desk with pen and documents

February 25, 2026Business

Complete IHT400 Guidance for UK Inheritance Tax Returns

There’s a particular dread that descends when someone hands you the IHT400 guidance notes for the first time. You’re grieving. You’re exhausted. And now HMRC wants a 16-page inheritance tax return, plus potentially a dozen supplementary schedules, all within a strict deadline. Welcome to being an executor. The IHT400 is the main form executors use […]

Family reviewing inheritance tax documents with 40% tax rate calculation, showing UK inheritance tax planning challenges for middle-income households

February 6, 2026Business

Inheritance Tax: How Much Will You Really Pay?

Here’s something nobody tells you at dinner parties: inheritance tax isn’t just for the wealthy anymore. I’ve watched too many families discover this the hard way—right when they’re grieving, already overwhelmed, and suddenly facing a tax bill that could’ve been avoided (or at least reduced) with a bit of planning. The problem? Most people think […]

UK inheritance tax planning comparison showing unprotected estate versus protected estate with £1 million inheritance tax allowance through proper planning and gifting strategies

January 12, 2026Business

How to Maximise Your Inheritance Tax Allowance in 2026

Here’s something nobody tells you at dinner parties (because who discusses tax at dinner parties?): roughly 96% of UK estates won’t pay a penny in inheritance tax. Yet the 4% who do fork out an average of £180,000 to HMRC. That’s not pocket change—that’s someone’s house deposit, a comfortable retirement nest egg, or your kids’ […]

Illustration of a golden inheritance tree shedding money into a tax tray, symbolising hereditary tax in the UK.

November 19, 2025Business

What Is Hereditary Tax? Full UK Guide

Here’s something that trips up most people: hereditary tax doesn’t actually exist – at least not in the way you’d think from the name. What we’re really talking about here is inheritance tax, sometimes called death duties by people who remember when that phrase actually meant something official. The confusion? Completely understandable. “Hereditary” sounds like something that passes […]