The government’s inheritance tax (IHT) and capital gains tax (CGT) receipts continued their upward trajectory in the first five months of 2025/26, HMRC’s latest figures have shown.

IHT receipts totalled £3.7bn between April and August 2025, an increase of £190m (5 per cent) compared to the same period last year.

The 2024/25 financial year was the third consecutive record-breaking year for IHT receipts at £8.2bn, with the latest data suggesting the government is in line for a fourth record-high year in a row.

“The continued rise in IHT receipts is the result of ‘fiscal drag’, with a long-standing freeze on the IHT nil-rate bands (NRB) spanning a period when asset prices have risen,” said Evelyn Partners head of estate planning, Ian Dyall.

“With the NRBs frozen until 2030, raised property values and investment assets are drawing more families into the IHT net - often without them realising it.

“This is before the changes to IHT reliefs announced at the 2024 Budget have come into force – changes that are already reshaping estate planning.”

HMRC’s update also revealed that CGT receipts had increased by 8 per cent year-on-year in the first five months of 2025/26 to £922m.

CGT receipts are expected to reach £19.7bn this year before increasing to £25.5bn a year by 2029/30.

“The CGT rate increases and tightening of the annual exemptions announced at the Autumn 2024 Budget is forecast to send collections surging by nearly 50 per cent in this current financial year, with the Treasury expected to pocket just under £20bn compared to £13.9bn last year,” said Utmost Wealth Solutions head of UK technical Services, Simon Martin.

“Behavioural changes around last year’s Budget looked to have driven significant property disposals with the recent annual CGT bulletin uncovering record property disposals in 2024/25.

“It suggests taxpayers were looking to sell assets before the new regime was implemented to minimise their tax liability.

“January will see the reporting of CGT incurred on all other asset sales, such as shares and non-residential property, in 2024/25 through self-assessment forms hence the expectation of a bumper tax year in 2025/26.”

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