HMRC has significantly increased its inheritance tax investigations, according to analysis by NFU Mutual, with the number of cases jumping 41% in 2024/25, from 2,807 to 3,961. HMRC analysis, based on the 2022/23 tax year, shows that 4.62% of UK deaths resulted in an inheritance tax charge, with this up 0.23 percentage points from the 2021/22 tax year. Inheritance tax liabilities reached £6.7bn in 2022/23, marking a 12% increase compared to the previous year. Ben Handley, a tax partner at BDO, said: "While the latest figures show a fairly modest rise in the number of estates subject to inheritance tax in 2022/23, we're likely to see many more people dragged into the IHT net when seismic changes to the regime come into force from 2026." This comes with the Government planning to tax inherited agricultural assets over £1m at a rate of 20% starting next April.
