A new HMRC report has revealed that inheritance tax receipts hit a record high of £5.2bn over the last financial year, increasing 8% (£388m) year-on-year during 2017/18.

Hardly surprising but a recent report released ahead of an OTS review of inheritance tax (IHT) rules, found that the net value of estates has increased by £17bn to £79bn since 2009, while the number of estates liable for IHT has continued to climb, with factors such as rising property prices bringing more people into the regime.

This hasn’t been helped by the freezing of the Inheritance tax nil rate band of £325,000 since April 2009. The report shows that London and the south east have the highest numbers of estates passing on death which are liable to IHT. In 2015-16, 51% of the total IHT liability was concentrated in these regions alone, with the average taxpayer in London having a liability of £223,000 per estate.The lowest IHT-paying regions were Northern Ireland, with an average of £127,000 per estate, and the North East of England at £132,000.