Form IHT417: telling HMRC about foreign assets

What is form IHT417?

IHT417 is a four-page schedule (the current version is dated HMRC 12/25) that sits behind the IHT400 account. It splits foreign assets into two groups because tax on houses, land, businesses and controlling shareholdings can be paid in ten annual instalments, so those go in box 1, whilst everything else, such as bank accounts and cryptoassets, goes in box 6. UK assets never go on this form, so a house in Leeds belongs on IHT405 even if the person lived abroad, and the guide to Inheritance Tax forms shows which other schedules the estate needs.

When do you need to fill in IHT417?

For deaths on or after 6 April 2025, foreign assets fall within UK Inheritance Tax if the person was a long-term UK resident. HMRC's manual defines this as UK residence in at least 10 of the 20 tax years immediately before the tax year of death, using the Income Tax residence rules. Someone who has left the UK stays in scope afterwards for 3 tax years if they were resident for 13 years or fewer, rising by one year for each extra year of residence to a maximum of 10. Transitional rules apply to people who were not UK domiciled on 30 October 2024 and were non-resident in 2025-26, which usually justifies professional advice.

For deaths on or before 5 April 2025, IHT417 applies if the person was UK domiciled, which for tax purposes included deemed domicile after 15 of the previous 20 tax years of residence and anyone UK domiciled within the three years before death.

If you are claiming that the person was not a long-term UK resident, their foreign assets are generally outside UK Inheritance Tax and you complete schedule IHT401a instead. Separately, GOV.UK says you must send full details on an IHT400 if the person had foreign assets worth more than £100,000, even where no tax is due.

What should you list on IHT417?

You list every asset situated outside the UK that the person owned, and a few rules catch executors out. The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man count as foreign, so a Jersey or Guernsey account goes here. Foreign assets owned jointly also go on IHT417 rather than the joint assets schedule IHT404, with the ownership details written in the IHT400's additional information pages. Foreign company shares listed on the London Stock Exchange are reported with UK shareholdings instead. A bank account held in a foreign currency is only left out where the person was neither UK resident nor a long-term UK resident, so for most people filing this form it is included.

Debts owed abroad are set against the foreign assets in the same country first, with any excess spread across other foreign assets. A loan taken out in the UK but secured on a foreign property is the exception, because it goes in box 80 of the IHT400, and our guide to debts owed by the deceased covers that side. For foreign houses and land HMRC asks for any professional valuation, a plan and photographs, and comments on condition, location, extras such as a pool, planning permission and whether a sale is imminent.

How do you fill in IHT417 box by box?

• Box 1: foreign houses, land, businesses and controlling shareholdings, with a description and location, the value in foreign currency, the exchange rate and the sterling value.

• Box 2: debts deducted from the box 1 assets, converted the same way.

• Box 3: box 1 minus box 2 (write 0 if it is negative).

• Box 4: exemptions and reliefs against the box 1 assets.

• Box 5: box 3 minus box 4, copied to IHT400 box 97.

• Box 6: all other foreign assets, such as bank accounts and cryptoassets.

• Box 7: debts deducted from the box 6 assets.

• Box 8: box 6 minus box 7.

• Box 9: exemptions and reliefs against the box 6 assets.

• Box 10: box 8 minus box 9, copied to IHT400 box 98.

• Box 11: whether any assets pass under a foreign will, and which country.

Which exchange rate does HMRC expect on IHT417?

The IHT417 notes say major currencies should generally be converted at the closing mid-point rate on the date of death in the "Pound Spot Forward against the Pound" table, published in newspapers' financial pages and online, whilst less common currencies can use the FT Guide to World Currencies, published weekly on Mondays. The date of death is what counts, not the date you sell or file, and noting the source beside each figure saves a round of questions. Credit for foreign tax works differently, because HMRC converts that tax at the rate on the day it was paid.

Can you deduct the extra cost of dealing with assets abroad?

You can claim an allowance for the extra cost of administering or realising property because it is outside the UK, capped at the lower of those extra costs or 5% of the asset's value. Only the excess over what the work would have cost in the UK counts, so the cost of obtaining a foreign grant qualifies whereas, according to HMRC, telling a foreign company about a shareholder's death does not. HMRC's guidance groups this allowance with exemptions and reliefs, which makes box 4 or box 9 the natural place for it.

How does double taxation relief work on foreign assets?

When another country taxes the same asset because of the same death, the UK gives a credit against Inheritance Tax rather than letting you deduct the foreign tax as a debt. The UK has Inheritance Tax conventions with the Republic of Ireland, the Netherlands, South Africa, Sweden, the United States, Switzerland, France, India, Italy and Pakistan, and where one applies its rules decide which country taxes first.

For other countries, including Spain and Portugal, HMRC gives unilateral relief under section 159 of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984. The credit is the foreign tax on that asset, excluding interest and penalties, and it cannot exceed the UK tax charged on the same asset. HMRC needs the foreign assessment and proof of payment, and if the foreign tax is settled after you file you can claim later, although nothing is repaid until that evidence arrives.

How does probate work for assets abroad?

A grant of probate from England and Wales does not by itself release a bank account in Paris or a flat in Malaga, because each country runs its own succession process, often through a local notary. GOV.UK's guidance for Spain says UK documents generally need legalising and then translating by a sworn translator registered there. Legalisation means an apostille, which currently costs £45 per document on paper or £35 as an e-Apostille, although death certificates can only be done on paper. Local inheritance law can also decide who receives the asset differently from the English will, so instructing a lawyer in that country early saves time. Where there is a separate will for the foreign estate, perhaps with different executors, you can fill in more than one IHT417, and box 11 tells HMRC that a foreign will exists.

Because foreign assets often surface late, it helps to confirm the UK side of the estate is complete before you file. Legacy Trail's account discovery service searches credit reference and Cifas data for UK accounts the family did not know about, which means the IHT400 and IHT417 can be finished together rather than corrected later.

Worked example: a flat in Spain

Margaret died on 14 January 2026, having lived in the UK all her life, so her worldwide estate is within UK Inheritance Tax. She owned a flat in Alicante worth €240,000 with a Spanish mortgage of €40,000, and a Spanish bank account holding €18,000. For this example, assume a date-of-death rate of €1.15 to the pound (the real figure must come from the published table).

Her executor enters the flat at £208,696 in box 1 and the mortgage at £34,783 in box 2, leaving £173,913 in box 3. The extra Spanish legal costs come to €9,000, below 5% of the flat's value (€12,000), so £7,826 is claimed in box 4 and box 5 becomes £166,087, which goes to IHT400 box 97. The bank account goes in box 6 at £15,652 and, with nothing to deduct, the same figure goes from box 10 to IHT400 box 98.

Suppose the chargeable estate comes to £1,000,000 and, after the £325,000 nil-rate band and £175,000 residence nil-rate band, the tax is £200,000, an average rate of 20%. The UK tax on the flat is therefore £33,217. Her children later pay €6,000 of Spanish inheritance tax when the rate is €1.18, which is £5,085, and because that is the lower figure the full £5,085 is credited once the Spanish receipt reaches HMRC, reducing the bill to £194,915.