Inheritance tax (IHT) collected in May reached a total of £701m, an increase of £92m year-on-year, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has revealed.

In total, for the first two months of the current financial year, IHT has raised £1.4bn for the Treasury, which is an increase of £178m from the same period in the 2023/24 financial year.

In the previous tax year, a record amount of IHT was collected for the Treasury.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has predicted that IHT receipts will continue to rise and forecast that the tax take will reach £9.7bn a year by 2028/29, as with the General Election fast approaching, all eyes have been on the major parties’ pledges on IHT.

Group communications director at Just Group, Stephen Lowe, said: "Last year set a record for inheritance tax receipts with £7.5bn collected in total and this year is off to a racing start with over £1.4bn collected over the first two months.

"The OBR’s forecast paints IHT as an increasingly lucrative source of income for the government with its latest revision expecting receipts to rise to an estimated £9.7bn by 2028/29, driven by a combination of frozen thresholds and house price growth tipping more estates over the threshold.

"The General Election is less than two weeks away and, despite IHT being a hot topic of debate leading up to the election campaign, there is a distinct lack of policy commitments in some of the key manifestos. The Conservatives shied away from a rumoured pledge to cut IHT but Reform has pledged to abolish inheritance tax for estates worth less than £2m.

"Meanwhile, Labour and the Liberal Democrats have remained silent on IHT in their respective manifestos. Particular attention will be paid to Labour’s policy position given the odds on them winning an outright majority and the commitment only to avoid tax rises on working people may hint that inheritance tax could still be on their list of revenue raising options if needed."

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