The amount of tax collected from inheritance tax investigations is soaring, but HMRC could recover even more. Over the past five years, HMRC has conducted thousands of investigations into estates suspected of owing inheritance tax, collecting £1.39 billion in unpaid taxes.
In 2023/2024, HMRC recovered £285m from 3,028 investigations. However, the number of enquiries has nearly halved since 2019, according to figures from NFU Mutual. In 2019/2020, there were 5,658 investigations, recovering £273m. By 2023/2024, investigations had dropped by over 2,000 to 3,028, a 49% decrease.
The 2021/2022 tax year saw HMRC recover the highest amount in the past five years, with £326m collected from 4,258 investigations.
In 2020/2021, investigations fell to 3,574 due to reduced activity during the COVID-19 pandemic, yet HMRC still raised £254m. This trend indicates that the number of investigations does not necessarily correlate with the amount of inheritance tax collected.
The data indicates that despite decreasing investigations, HMRC’s effectiveness in recovering unpaid inheritance tax remains robust. The lower number of investigations suggests that these efforts are becoming more targeted and forensic in nature.
If you are a personal representative of an estate and require assistance with inheritance tax matters, please contact our private client tax team on 0845 555 8844.
