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Inheritance tax update: June 2026 and second quarter
The highest ever monthly receipts in June sees IHT rise to £2.3 billion in the second quarter – the first full quarter after changes to agricultural property relief and business property relief.
The topline
- Inheritance tax (IHT) receipts for June 2026 hit a record £871 million, up from £730m in May and £738m last June.
- It brings IHT receipts for the second quarter to £2.3 billion, up £96m on Q2 2025
- Inheritance tax receipts from July 2025 to June 2026 are £8.6bn, up £179 million from the same period last year
The IHT overview
IHT receipts continue to climb above last year’s total. Slower receipts in April (£715m compared with £780m last year), were more than made up for by a stronger May and, particularly, June, with £730m and £871m, respectively, compared with £701m and £738m in 2025. The amount raised in June was up 18% on the same month last year and is the highest monthly take on record.
The government continues to expect higher receipts in coming years as wealth transfers continue, asset values rise, and the freezing of IHT thresholds continue to bite.
IHT receipts for the 12 months to the end of March 2026 of £8.5bn are a little under 1% (0.9%) of total HMRC tax and national insurance receipts for the period. This reflects a significant increase in the total tax take: £938.8 billion, which is £80.2 billion higher than the same period last year.
S&W’s expert view
The second quarter’s figures for IHT are the first since the restrictions on agricultural property relief (APR) and business property relief (BPR) came into force. From April, farms and family businesses that previously passed tax-free are limited to £2.5m, or £5m for a couple. Assets over that benefit from only 50% relief – an effective 20% IHT charge.
Despite record receipts in June, we’re unlikely to be seeing much sign of it yet in the receipts, however. Estates have six months from the date of death to pay, so the third quarter would perhaps give a better indication of the likely longer-term impact. Even then, it’s unlikely to be clear.
In fact, receipts in the coming months could prove unpredictable. On the one hand, we will certainly see some larger estates that didn’t take action before April incur significant IHT bills. On the other, we don’t yet know how many used trusts before this April to lock in the full APR and BPR relief. Figures on the number of trusts are only published annually.
We’ve also yet to see what Andy Burnham and his new Chancellor plan. There’s little clarity so far, but expectations of more tax rises may mean the rush of activity seen to put assets in trust ahead of April renews after the summer in the run-up to the Autumn Budget. In the short term, that could swell receipts from chargeable lifetime transfers, but it’s difficult to know.
The longer term is more certain, however. Rising asset prices and frozen limits will continue to see IHT receipts grow. And with trillions in assets still to pass from Baby Boomers to Generation X and Millennials over the next couple of decades, there’ll be plenty of activity to come.
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