You must pay Inheritance Tax by the end of the sixth month after the person died.

There are different due dates if you’re making payments on a trust.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will charge you interest if you do not pay by the due date.

How to pay

You’ll need to get a payment reference number before you can pay your Inheritance Tax bill.

Pay from your own bank account

You can pay from your own bank account or a joint account with the deceased:

• using online or telephone banking
• using CHAPS or Bacs
• at your bank or building society

You can claim the money back from the deceased’s estate or the beneficiaries once you get a ‘grant of representation’ (also known as ‘probate’). This is called ‘confirmation’ in Scotland.

Pay from accounts owned by the deceased

You can pay using the deceased’s:

• bank accounts – including National Savings and Investments (NS&I) accounts
• government stock

If you do not know how much to pay

You can make payments before you know the exact amount of Inheritance Tax owed by the deceased person’s estate. These are known as ‘payments on account’.

Check your payment has been received

HMRC do not send receipts for each payment you make. They’ll write to tell you when you’ve paid all the Inheritance Tax and interest you owe.

If you’ve paid through your own bank or building society, check your statement to confirm the payment has left your account.

If you’ve paid by cheque since 6 April 2020

Ask your bank if your cheque to HMRC has been cashed. If it has not been cashed, you should cancel the cheque and pay HMRC a different way.