Inheritance Tax receipts are on the rise again. The government’s IHT intake hit £800 million in April 2025, according to data released by HMRC this morning.
This is around £97 million more than the government took from estates in the same period last year, and sets a course for another record year of Inheritance Tax receipts.
“The 2025/26 financial year opens where the previous one left off, with a predictable and substantial annual rise in Inheritance Tax receipts. Estimates last month revealed that IHT receipts for the 2024/25 financial year were 10.8% up on the previous one, and there’s nothing to suggest the current one will be any different,” said Ian Dyall, Head of Estate Planning at wealth management firm Evelyn Partners.
News of higher IHT receipts this morning is a particularly thorny subject, not least because the government doesn’t seem content with how much it is pocketing from people’s estates and is planning a fresh raid on investors to bolster IHT receipts further.
“What has stirred up some interest in the Government’s intentions for IHT – aside from those announced at the October Budget – is the memo from the Deputy PM to the Chancellor leaked this week,” Dyall explained.
“That called for – among other tax rises – IHT relief on AIM shares to be removed altogether, which would go further than the current cut to 50% due for April 2026, and would save the Treasury £1billion. Whether this suggestion carries any weight with the Chancellor is unknown, but with the PM also rowing back on cuts to the Winter Fuel Allowance this week, questions are bound to arise around tax if the fiscal outlook doesn’t improve before the Autumn Budget.”
Changes to the IHT exemption scheme for AIM shares would be a major blow to AIM, a market whose companies create thousands of jobs for the UK economy.
“These businesses need investment in order to grow, and investors need incentives in order to be prepared to take the additional risk associated with them. Removing the inheritance tax incentive entirely could undermine investment in the market,” said Sarah Coles, head of personal finance, Hargreaves Lansdown.