27 Apr 2022Data published by HMRC has revealed that inheritance tax (IHT) receipts for April 2021 to March 2022 totalled £6.1 billion, which is £0.7 billion higher than in the same period a year earlier. The data revealed that receipts were lower in April and May 2020 as a result of a temporary issue where HMRC was unable to accept cheques for payment of IHT due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Additionally, receipts in April 2017 to May 2017 and March 2019 to April 2019 were 'particularly high' due to announcements of rises in probate fees in England and Wales. These rises were likely to have caused executors to bring forward tax payments to avoid the prospective higher fees. HMRC said that higher IHT receipts in October 2020, November 2020 and March to August 2021 are expected to be due to higher volumes of wealth transfers that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.