Record IHT receipts

Treasury raked in £2.1bn in IHT between April and July this yearNew figures from the Office for National Statistics show over £570m was paid out in inheritance tax in July - the most ever paid in a single month. The increase was driven by a rise in people dying of Covid, more estates getting caught in the IHT net after a year of increases in house and share prices, along with the Chancellor's decision to freeze the level at which people start paying the tax. The Treasury pocketed a total of £2.1bn in IHT between April and July this year, up £510m on the same period last year. “The record tax taken in July is likely to be a result of the horrible rise in deaths of people with Coronavirus earlier this year,” said Sarah Coles, a personal finance analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown. “There’s typically a long delay between when someone dies and when the tax is paid, which can take up to six months. It means that what we’re seeing now is a result of the tragically high death rate in early 2021.” Total tax receipts hit £67.3bn in July, the highest since January, while for the period April to July receipts hit £226.2bn - £76bn higher than for the same period a year earlier.