Inheritance tax forms: which ones you need
This page sorts the HMRC forms into the ones you need and the ones you can ignore.
Do you need an HMRC inheritance tax form at all?
Start with the estate, not the form. The excepted estate rules decide whether HMRC wants a full account (GOV.UK).
If the estate is excepted, there is no Inheritance Tax form to complete. The values go on the probate application, which is the position for most estates.
If it is not, you send form IHT400 and its schedules to HMRC before applying for probate.
The test needs figures, so value the estate first, using how to value an estate for probate.
What counts as an excepted estate?
An estate is usually excepted if any one of these applies (GOV.UK):
Below the threshold: the estate is worth less than the current Inheritance Tax threshold.
£650,000 with a transfer: worth £650,000 or less, with unused threshold transferred from a spouse or civil partner who died first.
£3 million to a spouse or charity: everything went to a spouse or civil partner living in the UK, or a qualifying charity, and the estate is under £3 million.
£150,000 foreign domiciliary: the person lived permanently outside the UK and their UK assets are worth £150,000 or less.
Only one case has to be met. The first turns on the inheritance tax threshold at the date of death.
Excepted estates from that window had their own form, form IHT205, which GOV.UK still lists as current; only the online version of the service has closed.
When do you have to send full details even if there is no tax?
Three situations force full details even where no tax is due (GOV.UK):
Gifts: the person gave away more than £250,000 in the 7 years before they died.
Estate size: the person left an estate worth more than £3 million.
Foreign assets: the person held foreign assets worth more than £100,000.
Any one of these takes the estate into form IHT400. Gifts catch people out most, because it is the seven year total that counts, as the 7 year rule for inheritance tax explains.
What is form IHT400, and when is it due?
The Inheritance Tax account, form IHT400, is the full return. You use it when there is tax to pay or the estate is not excepted.
Form IHT400 must be sent within 12 months of the person dying, and before you apply for probate (GOV.UK).
Inheritance Tax must be paid by the end of the sixth month after the death, so a January death means paying by 31 July (GOV.UK). HMRC charges interest if you pay late.
Which IHT400 schedules do you need?
Form IHT400 is a shell. The detail goes on supplementary schedules, and you send only the ones that apply:
IHT401: domicile outside the United Kingdom
IHT401a: long-term United Kingdom residence
IHT402: claim to transfer unused nil rate band
IHT403: gifts and other transfers of value
IHT404: jointly owned assets
IHT405: houses, land, buildings and interest in land
IHT406: bank and building society accounts
IHT407: household and personal goods
IHT408: household and personal goods donated to charity
IHT409: pensions
IHT410: life assurance and annuities
IHT411: listed stocks and shares
IHT412: unlisted stocks and shares and control holdings
IHT413: business and partnership interests and assets
IHT414: Agricultural Relief
IHT415: interest in another estate
IHT416: debts due to the estate
IHT417: foreign assets
IHT418: assets held in trust
IHT419: debts owed by the deceased
IHT420: National Heritage assets, conditional exemption and maintenance funds
IHT421: probate summary
IHT423: Direct Payment Schemes
IHT430: reduced rate of Inheritance Tax
IHT435: claim the residence nil rate band
IHT436: claim transferable residence nil rate band
IHT437: claim unused allowance for agricultural property or business property relief
Most estates use a handful. Property goes on form IHT405, sole name bank accounts and Premium Bonds on form IHT406, possessions on form IHT407, and deducted loans or overdrafts on form IHT419.
Three schedules claim allowances, and none is automatic. A widowed person's estate claims the unused threshold on form IHT402, a home passing to direct descendants is claimed on form IHT435, and any balance left by an earlier spouse on form IHT436.
Which forms deal with paying, clearance and corrections?
Four forms sit outside the schedule list.
IHT422: apply for an Inheritance Tax reference before sending form IHT400 where there is tax to pay (last updated 5 June 2026).
IHT423: ask a bank or investment provider to pay the tax straight to HMRC from the deceased's account. You send form IHT423 to the institution, one per account, and can start before probate.
IHT30: application for a clearance certificate.
C4: used with C4(S) to correct an Inheritance Tax account.
HMRC then sends a unique code you need before applying for probate, and how to apply for probate covers the rest.
What are the current rates and thresholds?
As of August 2026, the nil rate band is £325,000, and GOV.UK states it applies from 6 April 2009 to 5 April 2031.
The residence nil rate band is £175,000, and GOV.UK states it applies from 6 April 2020 to 5 April 2030.
The standard Inheritance Tax rate is 40%, charged only on the part of the estate above the threshold.
A reduced rate of 36% applies to some assets if 10% or more of the net value of the estate is left to charity.
Frequently asked questions
Which inheritance tax form do I need?
It depends on whether the estate is excepted. An excepted estate needs no HMRC Inheritance Tax form, because the values are declared on the probate application. Any other estate needs form IHT400 plus the supplementary schedules matching its assets, debts, gifts and reliefs.
Where do you download HMRC inheritance tax forms?
Every current Inheritance Tax form is published on GOV.UK, in the Inheritance Tax forms collection. That collection was last updated on 17 July 2020, and it groups the forms by purpose. Form IHT400 itself is interactive and needs Adobe Reader.
Do you still use form IHT205?
No, it is not withdrawn. Form IHT205 still applies to deaths from 6 April 2011 to 31 December 2021; only the online reporting service closed, in March 2023. For deaths on or after 1 January 2022 there is no replacement form: you check whether the estate is excepted, then give the values with the probate application.
Do you need an inheritance tax form if there is no tax to pay?
Usually not, but there are three exceptions. Full details are needed even where no tax is due if the person gave away more than £250,000 in the 7 years before death, left an estate worth more than £3 million, or held foreign assets worth more than £100,000.
The part no form asks about
Deciding which inheritance tax form applies means knowing what the person held, which usually means contacting banks, pensions, insurers and utilities one at a time.
Legacy Trail finds the accounts and services the person held and notifies them centrally, so the estate picture comes together in one place.
Frequently asked questions
It depends on whether the estate is excepted. An excepted estate needs no HMRC Inheritance Tax form, because the values are declared on the probate application. Any other estate needs form IHT400 plus the supplementary schedules matching its assets, debts, gifts and reliefs.
Every current Inheritance Tax form is published on GOV.UK, in the Inheritance Tax forms collection. That collection was last updated on 17 July 2020, and it groups the forms by purpose. Form IHT400 itself is interactive and needs Adobe Reader.
No, it is not withdrawn. Form IHT205 still applies to deaths from 6 April 2011 to 31 December 2021; only the online reporting service closed, in March 2023. For deaths on or after 1 January 2022 there is no replacement form: you check whether the estate is excepted, then give the values with the probate application.
Usually not, but there are three exceptions. Full details are needed even where no tax is due if the person gave away more than £250,000 in the 7 years before death, left an estate worth more than £3 million, or held foreign assets worth more than £100,000.
This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Individual circumstances vary. If you are dealing with an estate, consider taking advice from a solicitor who specialises in probate. For other guidance specific to your circumstances, speak to a funeral director, Citizens Advice, or a regulated financial adviser.