I am dealing with a case where an IHT400 has been submitted but there was no IHT to pay due to an exemption being claimed.
HMRC have sent their standard letter saying - if you have not heard from us by #####, it means we have no questions to ask about the information on the form IHT400. However, we may ask questions if you tell us about changes at a later date.
I am interested to see what people are doing regarding clearance. Are you still applying for clearance in cases like this or treating HMRC’s statement as effective clearance once the specified date has passed?
Given the very slow speed that HMRC take to deal with anything these days I am not keen to hold up the administration of the estate by many months unnecessarily.
I place little store on the standard letter and recommend applying for clearance on form IHT30.
In part this is informed by HMRC’s August 2022 Newsletter, in which it states: “If you want to apply for clearance in respect of an Inheritance Tax liability, you must use form IHT30 ‘Application for a clearance certificate’.” Which implies that any other form of “clearance” is not to be relied upon.
I have also heard of many examples of HMRC reneging on its, informal, “clearance letter”, including a number reported on this Forum.
Paul Saunders FCIB TEP
Independent Trust Consultant
Providing support and advice to fellow professionals