IHT205 Form UK: The Excepted Estate Short Return — Now Abolished from January 2022
The IHT205 was HMRC's short return for excepted estates. It was abolished for deaths on or after 1 January 2022 — qualifying estates now make an online declaration through the HMCTS probate portal. No paper form is sent to HMRC. Scotland still uses the C5(SE). Full IHT400 still required if the estate is non-excepted or IHT is due.
IHT205 / Excepted Estate — What Changed and When
| Period | Form | Threshold | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-2022 | IHT205 (England, Wales, NI) / C5 (Scotland) | Gross estate ≤ £1m; IHT due ≤ £0 | The IHT205 was a 4-page paper return submitted to HMCTS with the probate application. It gathered basic estate information for HMRC screening. Scotland used form C5 or C5(OUK). |
| January 2022 onwards | No form — digital declaration via probate portal | Gross estate ≤ £3m (death after 1 Jan 2022); IHT due = £0 | For deaths on or after 1 January 2022, qualifying excepted estates in England, Wales and NI no longer submit a paper IHT205. Executors make an online declaration of the estate's gross value when applying for probate through HMCTS. HMRC receives the data automatically. |
| Scotland (all dates) | C5(SE) — still in use | Scottish excepted estate thresholds | Scotland did not adopt the 2022 digital process. Scottish executors still complete form C5(SE) and submit it to Sheriff Court (confirmation, not probate). The Scottish process is governed by different legislation. |
| Non-excepted estates (all dates) | IHT400 + supplementary schedules | Estate above excepted threshold or IHT due | If the estate does not meet the excepted estate criteria, a full IHT400 must be submitted to HMRC before the probate application can proceed. This has not changed. |
Current Excepted Estate Criteria (Deaths from 1 January 2022)
Under SI 2021/1167, an estate qualifies as excepted (no IHT400 required) if it falls into one of three categories — and in all cases, the IHT liability must be nil:
1. Low-value estate
Gross worldwide estate does not exceed the basic nil-rate band (£325,000 in 2026/27). IHT due: nil. Assets can pass to anyone — no spousal requirement.
2. Exempt estate
Gross worldwide estate does not exceed £3 million. All assets pass to the surviving UK-domiciled spouse or civil partner, or to charity. IHT due: nil. The £3m ceiling was raised from £1m by the 2021 amendment — a significant expansion that brought large married estates into the excepted category.
3. Non-domiciled estate
The deceased was not UK-domiciled (or deemed domiciled). UK-situs assets do not exceed £150,000. IHT due: nil on UK assets. Foreign assets of non-doms are outside UK IHT regardless.
Important: Failed potentially exempt transfers (PETs), chargeable lifetime transfers (CLTs), and gifts with reservation within the past 7 years can all reduce the available nil-rate band or add to the gross estate value. Calculate carefully before concluding the estate is excepted.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the IHT205 form and why was it abolished?
The IHT205 (Return of Estate Information) was a 4-page HMRC short form for excepted estates — estates where the gross value was low enough and no IHT was due, so a full IHT400 return was not required. Executors submitted the IHT205 to HMCTS (the probate registry) as part of the probate application. HMRC used it to screen estates and confirm they fell below the excepted estate thresholds. The IHT205 was abolished for deaths on or after 1 January 2022 in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The reason was digitisation: HMCTS moved to an online probate application system, and HMRC updated the excepted estate regulations (The Inheritance Tax (Delivery of Accounts) (Excepted Estates) (Amendment) Regulations 2021, SI 2021/1167) to remove the requirement for a paper form for qualifying estates. Instead, executors make a digital declaration of the estate's gross value when applying for probate online.
What do executors do instead of the IHT205 for an excepted estate after January 2022?
For a death on or after 1 January 2022 where the estate qualifies as an excepted estate under the updated regulations, executors applying for probate in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland make an online declaration through the HMCTS probate portal (www.gov.uk/apply-for-probate). As part of the online probate application, you are asked to provide the gross estate value and confirm it meets the excepted estate criteria. HMRC receives this information automatically — there is no separate HMRC submission, no paper form to send, and no IHT205 to complete. The key documents you need are: (1) the death certificate; (2) the original will (if any); (3) your calculations of the gross estate value and liabilities; and (4) the probate application fee. You do not send anything to HMRC separately unless the estate is non-excepted.
What are the excepted estate thresholds after January 2022?
Under the updated Inheritance Tax (Delivery of Accounts) (Excepted Estates) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 (SI 2021/1167), an estate qualifies as an excepted estate (and does not need an IHT400) if it meets one of the following conditions: (1) Low-value estate: the gross estate (worldwide assets before debts) does not exceed the basic nil-rate band (£325,000 in 2026/27) and no IHT is due; (2) Exempt estate: the gross estate does not exceed £3 million (raised from £1 million by the 2021 amendment), all assets pass to a surviving UK-domiciled spouse or civil partner, or to charity, and no IHT is due; (3) Non-domiciled estate: the deceased was non-UK domiciled and the UK-situs estate does not exceed £150,000. IHT must be nil in all cases — if any IHT is due, the estate is not excepted and a full IHT400 is required. Note: pensions included from April 2027 may affect this analysis.
Do I still need to send anything to HMRC if the estate is excepted after January 2022?
No — for a qualifying excepted estate (death on or after 1 January 2022, in England, Wales or Northern Ireland), you do not send any form to HMRC. The digital declaration through the HMCTS probate portal is the only submission required. HMRC may subsequently contact you if they believe the estate has been incorrectly treated as excepted — for example, if they have information suggesting assets or gifts were not declared. Executors should still prepare and retain detailed estate calculations in case HMRC queries the position, even though nothing is proactively submitted to HMRC. The two-year statutory period during which HMRC can enquire begins on the date the probate application is made.
What if the estate has a small amount of IHT to pay — can it still be an excepted estate?
No. An estate can only qualify as an excepted estate if the IHT liability is nil. Even a £1 IHT liability takes the estate out of the excepted category, requiring a full IHT400 submission to HMRC. The IHT400 must be submitted and the IHT paid before the probate application can proceed (or the HMRC Direct Payment Scheme used to fund payment from the deceased's bank accounts). The most common reason an estate that appears to be below the nil-rate band still has an IHT liability is because the deceased made chargeable lifetime transfers or potentially exempt transfers (which failed because death occurred within 7 years) that used up some of the nil-rate band — leaving a smaller band to apply against the death estate.
What about the IHT207 and C5 forms — are they also abolished?
The IHT207 (for non-domiciled estates with UK assets below £150,000) was also abolished at the same time as the IHT205 for deaths on or after 1 January 2022 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland — it is replaced by the same digital online declaration. The C5 (for Scottish estates) has been revised and continues as form C5(SE) — Scotland did not adopt the 2022 English digital process. Scottish executors applying for confirmation (Scotland's equivalent of probate) still submit a paper C5(SE) to the relevant Sheriff Court. The C5(OUK) for Scottish estates with overseas domiciliaries also continues in revised form.
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