IHTM05021 | Is an account required?: excepted estates

Over a quarter of a million grants are obtained (IHTM05001) each year in England and Wales alone. A large number of these are for simple estates where the value of the total assets is much lower than the nil-rate band for Inheritance Tax (IHT). Since 1981, under a power given by IHTA84/S256, the Board of HMRC has made regulations which have enabled a large number of cases to be excepted estates (IHTM06001).

In these cases, the liable persons do not need to deliver an account of the estate provided certain conditions are met. Instead, for deaths on or after 1 January 2022, they declare that the estate is an excepted estate, confirm if they are claiming transferable nil rate band (IHTM43064), and provide three values for IHT on the Probate or Confirmation forms (IHTM06031). For deaths before 1 January 2022, they complete a brief return of information about the estate. Details of the initial steps on how they do this can be found at IHTM05024.

The current regulations set out at IHTM06012 and IHTM06013 apply to deaths on or after 1 September 2006. They came into force under the IHT (Delivery of Accounts) (Excepted Estates) Regulations 2004 (SI2004/2543) as amended. There are some differences in the procedures for applying for an excepted estate grant in Scotland (IHTM05027) and the rest of the UK (IHTM05026).