When estate planning or dealing with the estate of someone who has died, you may have to handle Inheritance Tax (IHT).

Probate refers to the process of applying for a Grant of Probate(when there is a Will) or Letters of Administration (when there is no Will), which are legal documents that the person dealing with the estate may be required to obtain. If required, the Grant of Representation (the umbrella term for both documents) gives this individual the legal right to proceed with estate administration, which is the entire process of dealing with the assets and liabilities of someone who has died and then distributing their estate to the beneficiaries.

This blog post explores how Inheritance Tax works and which other taxes HMRC applies to a deceased person's estate.

Inheritance Tax (IHT) can be a difficult concept to comprehend, especially for those who have never had to attempt the complex process of dealing with a loved one’s taxable estate before. To put it simply, IHT is a tax that is paid upon an estate of someone who has died.

The United Kingdom went into national mourning last week as the news broke that His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, sadly passed away on Friday at the age of 99. He was the longest-serving royal consort in British history, having been married to Her Majesty The Queen for more than seven decades. The question that is now starting to surface within the industry is “what will happen to Prince Philip’s multimillion pound estate?”.

Four in 10 people fear the UK Government will increase the current 40 per cent Inheritance Tax (IHT) rate to help cover the cost of the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings, from research by Tower Street Finance among 2,000 UK adults, revealed more than half (54 per cent) think the Government is set to hike the rate of IHT to 50 per cent, three in ten fear a rise to 60 per cent and one in seven predict it could rise to 70 per cent.

A recent report by the Taxpayers’ Alliance projects that the government will receive £5.35 billion in Inheritance Tax from grieving relatives in the 2019 to 2020 tax year. This is the highest amount of Inheritance Tax ever collected in by the government and it’s predicted to keep growing.

At a Conservative conference fringe event organised by the Institute of Economic Affairs and the Taxpayers’ Alliance, Chancellor Sajid Javid hinted that he could cut Inheritance Tax. After being asked whether he would scrap the tax, Sajid Javid shared how he understood arguments against the tax and suggested that he’s considering changes.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) opened a staggering 5,537 Inheritance Tax investigations in the 2018-2019 tax year, which is a 3.4% increase in comparison to the previous 2017-2018 tax year. To put this number into perspective, this equates to nearly a quarter (23%) of the 22,000 estates where Inheritance Tax is due. With such an incredibly high proportion of estates affected, it raises concerns about whether those responsible for paying Inheritance Tax are aware of the risks if they make mistakes.