IHT Clearance Certificate UK (2026): Form IHT30, When to Apply & Executor Protection

An Inheritance Tax clearance certificate is a formal written confirmation from HMRC that the inheritance tax on a particular estate has been fully settled and that HMRC will make no further claim for IHT on that estate. It is issued on HMRC Form IHT30 after the executor applies for it following payment of all IHT. The clearance certificate matters for several reasons: (1) Executor protection: under section 239 of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 (IHTA 1984), the clearance certificate provides formal protection to the personal representative (executor or administrator). Once clearance is obtained, HMRC cannot subsequently claim additional IHT directly from the executor personally in respect of the estate assets covered by the certificate. Without clearance, an executor who distributes the estate remains potentially at risk if HMRC later challenges the IHT valuation and demands additional tax — after distribution, the executor may have to meet that liability personally; (2) Beneficiary assurance: beneficiaries who receive their inheritance can be confident, once the executor has clearance, that HMRC will not later claw back funds from the estate; (3) Professional requirement: where a solicitor or professional executor is managing the estate, they will typically obtain clearance as standard professional practice before recommending the finalisation of estate accounts. It is important to distinguish the IHT clearance certificate from: (a) the D18 receipt issued by HMRC confirming that enough IHT has been paid to issue the grant of probate — this is not clearance, it is simply confirmation of pre-probate payment; (b) the probate grant itself.

An executor should apply for an IHT clearance certificate once all of the following conditions are met: (1) All estate assets have been fully identified and valued — including any assets that required HMRC Shares and Assets Valuation (SAV) input, such as business interests, unquoted shares, or artwork; (2) All IHT has been paid in full — including any additional IHT resulting from negotiations with HMRC's SAV team or Compliance team over disputed valuations. If a post-death sale of a property has triggered relief provisions (the loss on sale relief for land or shares), all adjustments must be applied and settled before applying for clearance; (3) There are no outstanding HMRC enquiries or disputes — if HMRC has opened a formal enquiry into the IHT return, clearance should not be applied for until the enquiry is resolved and any additional IHT is paid; (4) All IHT instalment payments on qualifying assets have been settled — if the estate used the instalment option for land or business assets, clearance can be obtained once all instalments are paid. There is no fixed time limit for applying for clearance — many straightforward estates apply within 6–12 months of death; complex estates with HMRC enquiries or instalment payments may take 2–4 years. An executor can choose NOT to apply for clearance and distribute the estate anyway — there is no legal obligation to obtain clearance. However, not obtaining clearance leaves the executor exposed to personal liability if HMRC later makes a further claim.

The application for an IHT clearance certificate is made on Form IHT30 ('Application for a clearance certificate'), available from HMRC's website (gov.uk) or by contacting HMRC Inheritance Tax on 0300 123 1072. The application is submitted by post to: Inheritance Tax, BX9 1HT. The IHT30 form requires: (1) the estate reference number (assigned by HMRC when the IHT400 was submitted); (2) confirmation that all IHT has been paid in full; (3) details of any IHT that has been paid by instalments and confirmation that all instalments are complete; (4) the executor's contact details and signature. The executor should ensure that the IHT reference on the form matches the reference on all prior correspondence with HMRC. HMRC will review the estate's IHT file before issuing clearance — they will check that: all forms have been received; all IHT payments have been credited; no outstanding queries or compliance checks remain open; any interest on late IHT has been settled. Processing time: HMRC aims to issue the clearance certificate within 8–12 weeks of receiving the application, but during busy periods (typically after Budget announcements or IHT rule changes) processing can take longer. If clearance is urgently needed (for example, because the estate sale is completing), contact HMRC Inheritance Tax directly to request expedited processing. Once issued, the clearance certificate is retained by the executor and/or their solicitor. It should be stored permanently alongside the estate accounts.

Before issuing an IHT clearance certificate, HMRC Inheritance Tax reviews the estate's complete file to confirm: (1) IHT return completeness: the IHT400 and all required supplementary schedules have been submitted and processed. If any schedules were missing or contained errors, HMRC will identify this before clearance; (2) Payment confirmation: all IHT payments have been received and credited to the correct estate reference. Payments made by bank transfer may take several working days to be credited — apply for clearance after confirming receipt; (3) Post-death events: any post-death events that affect the IHT liability have been reported. The most common are: (a) sale of property within four years of death at a loss — the loss-on-sale relief for land (IHTA 1984 s.191) reduces the IHT by reference to the sale price rather than the probate value; (b) sale of quoted investments within 12 months at a loss — relief under IHTA 1984 s.178; (c) deeds of variation (within 2 years of death) — if the beneficiaries have executed a deed of variation redirecting the estate, the IHT position changes and must be reported; (4) Open enquiries: any compliance enquiry or query raised by HMRC must be formally closed before clearance. If HMRC challenged a property valuation and a revised (higher) value was agreed, the additional IHT must be paid and confirmed before clearance; (5) Interest: interest accrued on late IHT payments must be settled. HMRC will calculate the interest and demand payment before issuing clearance. After clearance, HMRC can still raise an assessment if fraud or gross negligence by the personal representative comes to light — clearance does not protect against deliberately fraudulent valuations.

Yes — an executor can distribute the estate to beneficiaries without waiting for an IHT clearance certificate. There is no legal requirement to obtain clearance before distribution. Many executors distribute the estate once the IHT has been paid, the grant of probate obtained, assets realised, and debts settled — without applying for formal clearance at all. The risk of distributing without clearance: HMRC retains the right to assess additional IHT for up to: (1) 4 years from the end of the tax year in which the IHT was paid, for ordinary mistakes or omissions; (2) 20 years for fraudulent or negligent conduct by the personal representative. If HMRC raises an additional assessment after distribution, the executor is personally liable to pay it from their own funds — they cannot recover the overpayment from beneficiaries who have already received their inheritance in good faith (though in practice beneficiaries may agree to return funds). Executors who are confident that the IHT return was accurate, all assets were disclosed, and no significant HMRC enquiry is pending often distribute without waiting for clearance. Where there is any doubt about the IHT position, obtaining clearance before final distribution is strongly recommended. Professional executors (solicitors) almost invariably obtain clearance before finalising accounts — because their professional indemnity insurance may not cover a personal liability claim that arose due to distributing before clearance.

Section 239 of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 provides specific statutory protection for personal representatives who apply for and obtain a clearance certificate in respect of the property of the deceased. The s.239 protection works as follows: (1) Once HMRC issues the clearance certificate, HMRC cannot thereafter commence proceedings against the personal representative personally in respect of IHT due on the property covered by the certificate; (2) The protection is personal to the executor — it does not protect the beneficiaries themselves from claims in respect of IHT attributable to gifts made by the deceased in the 7 years before death (the 'gift with reservation' and failed PET rules can impose liability on the recipient, not the estate); (3) The protection applies to IHT on the estate property — not to lifetime transfer IHT that was already separately settled. Important limitations: (a) The s.239 protection does not apply where the clearance was obtained by fraud or material non-disclosure — HMRC can set aside clearance if it was obtained by providing false information; (b) The protection is only for the personal representative, not for trustees of any will trust who may separately be liable for IHT; (c) Clearance does not override HMRC's right to assess IHT on lifetime gifts that were not properly disclosed. In practice, the s.239 protection gives the executor confidence to finalise the estate and distribute to beneficiaries, knowing that HMRC cannot later come back to them personally for more IHT on the estate property that was covered by the clearance application.