Inheritance tax refunds: How to claim money back if property price falls

As Government receipts for inheritance tax reach a record high this year, make sure you haven’t overpaid. We explain how to claim a refund.

Inheritance tax planning with a sheet of blank paper and a pen
(Image credit: Getty images)

In the first 11 months of the 2024/25 tax year, HMRC collected a record £7.6 billion in inheritance tax receipts, surpassing last year’s full year total of £7.5 billion. This was driven up by frozen inheritance tax (IHT) thresholds and the rise of property prices over time.

It is not widely known, however, that you could be entitled to an inheritance tax refund if the value of your property, or other assets, has gone down when you come to sell.

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Samantha Partington is an award-winning freelance journalist writing about property, mortgages, personal finance and interiors.

Before going freelance she wrote for the Daily Mail's personal finance section and prior to that she was the residential correspondent for real estate business title Property Week. She was also the former deputy editor of trade title Mortgage Solutions.

Before becoming a journalist, Samantha worked as a mortgage broker and is CeMAP qualified. Follow her on Twitter @SamJPartington1.