Inheritance tax receipts between April and June lifted 4.8% to £2.2bn, compared to the same record period a year ago, according to the latest HMRC data.  

The data body adds that the tax on this take continues to rise due to a mix of “higher volumes of wealth transfers following recent liable deaths,” as well as “recent rises in asset values” and the last government’s move to freeze this levy’s threshold until 2030. 

Inheritance tax receipts hit a record £7.6bn last year, up 7% on the previous 12 months, which was also an all-time high, official data shows. 

Evelyn Partners head of estate planning Ian Dyall says: “The June figure means that inheritance tax revenues for this financial year so far are running 4.8% ahead of the same period last year. And let’s not forget that last year was a record one. 

“Even with the relative softness in the property market suggested by recent house price indices, the trend for more families and more assets attracting inheritance tax liabilities is set to continue as nil rate bands remain frozen.” 

The data comes as the Treasury releases draft legislation to bring undrawn pensions into scope for inheritance tax today for the first time from April 2027. 

Hargreaves Lansdown head of retirement Helen Morrissey says that the inheritance levy is “a tax that only affects a relatively small number of people, but it is universally hated, and frozen tax thresholds are pulling more people into the net. 

“The government’s moves to make pensions subject to inheritance tax from 2027 have drawn further criticism