Inheritance Tax forms
IHT400: the full Inheritance Tax account
The IHT400 is the long-form account delivered to HMRC where an estate cannot use the simplified reporting route. It is detailed, it comes with schedules, and it has deadlines with penalties attached.
Which route does this estate take?
Most estates are excepted, meaning no full account is needed and the relevant figures are reported as part of the probate application. A full IHT400 is normally required where the estate is taxable or falls outside the excepted conditions.
| Situation | Likely route |
|---|---|
| Estate below the available allowances, nothing unusual | Excepted — no IHT400 |
| Everything passes to a spouse, civil partner or charity | Usually excepted |
| Inheritance Tax is actually payable | IHT400 required |
| Business Relief, Agricultural Relief or a trust interest is being claimed | IHT400 required |
| Significant lifetime gifts, foreign assets, or gifts with reservation | IHT400 likely required |
The nil-rate band is £325,000 and the residence nil-rate band is £175,000. Last checked 1 September 2026 — confirm current thresholds and excepted-estate conditions on GOV.UK.
Which schedules do I need?
The IHT400 is the cover account; most of the detail lives on the schedules. Attach only the ones that apply to the estate.
| If the estate has… | Attach |
|---|---|
| Gifts or transfers in the 7 years before death | IHT403 |
| A house, land or other property | IHT405 |
| Bank or building society accounts, Premium Bonds or NS&I | IHT406 |
| Household and personal belongings | IHT407 |
| Pensions or death benefits | IHT409 |
| Listed stocks and shares | IHT411 |
| Unlisted shares or a business interest | IHT412 / IHT413 |
| Jointly owned assets passing to a non-spouse | IHT404 |
| Foreign assets or a non-UK domicile | IHT401 / IHT417 |
| Assets held in trust | IHT418 |
| A late spouse whose nil-rate band was unused | IHT402 |
| A home passing to children or grandchildren | IHT435 (and IHT436 to transfer a late spouse's residence band) |
| Debts owed to the deceased | IHT419 |
- IHT401 — the deceased was domiciled outside the UK
- IHT402 — claiming a late spouse's unused nil-rate band
- IHT403 — gifts and other transfers of value in the last seven years
- IHT404 — jointly owned assets
- IHT405 — houses, land and buildings
- IHT406 — bank and building society accounts and National Savings
- IHT407 — household and personal goods
- IHT409 — pensions
- IHT411 and IHT412 — listed and unlisted stocks and shares
- IHT418 — assets held in trust
- IHT435 and IHT436 — claiming and transferring the residence nil-rate band
Completing the IHT400 section by section
The form is long but logical. Work through it in this order and most sections take care of themselves.
- Sections 1–3: the deceased's details, your details as executor, and the will and domicile questions. Have the death certificate and will to hand.
- Sections 4–8: the asset sections. These mostly say 'see schedule' — value everything at the date of death and keep the evidence (valuations, statements).
- Sections 9–11: debts, funeral costs and exemptions such as the spouse and charity exemptions.
- Section 12: the working out of the tax, pulling totals from every schedule. This is where errors in earlier schedules surface, so cross-check every total.
- IHT421 probate summary: the summary HMRC sends to the Probate Registry after processing, which releases the grant.
- Declaration: every executor signs. Estimates must be marked as estimates with the basis explained.
Deadlines
- Inheritance Tax is due by the end of the sixth month after the month of death — interest runs from that date
- The IHT400 itself must be delivered within twelve months of the end of the month of death, with penalties after that
- The grant cannot be issued until HMRC has processed the account, so late filing delays everything
Paying tax before you can access the money
Tax is often due before the grant releases the funds to pay it. The usual routes are the direct payment scheme, where banks pay HMRC straight from the deceased's accounts, or paying tax on property by instalments over ten years. Plan this early — it is the single most common cash-flow trap in estate administration.An IHT400 estate is usually not a self-help estate
Where a full account is needed because reliefs, trusts or foreign assets are involved, the sensible course is to instruct a solicitor or an accountant. Our free checker will tell you honestly if that is where you are.Step-by-step guides to the schedules:
Not sure whether this estate is straightforward?
The free suitability checker asks about jurisdiction, disputes and complexity, and tells you in a few minutes whether a self-help route is sensible — or whether you should speak to a solicitor. No account needed.
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