How to apply for an Inheritance Tax reference using IHT122
Before Inheritance Tax can be paid on a trust charge or a lifetime transfer, HMRC needs a reference to match the payment to.
IHT122 is the form that requests it.
It is short — two pages — but it is post-only. There is no online route for a chargeable event, which catches out anyone who has just read that IHT references can be applied for online. HMRC asks you to apply at least 3 weeks before you intend to pay.
This walkthrough explains who files it, which of its three sections applies to you, and what happens next.
✓ Official source checked 23 August 2026 · GOV.UK last revised this form 6 April 2025IHT122 on GOV.UK ↗
United Kingdom·Informational, not legal or financial advice·Official source: GOV.UK
✓Official form · always current
This is the same official IHT122 file HM Revenue & Customs publishes on GOV.UK — the link below fetches the current version live from GOV.UK the moment you click it, so it can never go out of date.
Current version: April 2025 · confirmed on GOV.UK 23 August 2026
This walkthrough takes IHT122 field by field, in plain English. The form itself takes about ten minutes; the hard part is knowing this isn't the death-estate reference, that it can't be applied for online, and which of its three alternative sections is yours.
The thing most people get wrong
Arriving here from a search for "Inheritance Tax reference number" and following the death-estate route. The online reference service does not cover chargeable events, and the account that follows is one of the IHT100 series — not IHT400. Using IHT422 and IHT400 for a trust charge means applying for the wrong reference and filing the wrong account.
The second trap is inside the form: it carries three alternative sections and you complete only ONE of them. Which one depends on the IHT100 form you are sending.
The form, in summary
Valoren
IHT122·2 pages·27 fields guided
With Valoren5 minutes
Without Valoren10 minutes
to complete; allow 3+ weeks for HMRC to issue the reference
An Inheritance Tax reference is required before any payment of Inheritance Tax can be made on a chargeable event — a charge arising on a trust or on a lifetime transfer, rather than on a death estate.
IHT122 is the application for that reference. Unlike IHT422 (the death-estate equivalent), it cannot be submitted online: the form is completed on screen, printed, and posted to HMRC.
The reference must be applied for at least 3 weeks before you intend to pay.
The account that follows is one of the IHT100 series, not IHT400.
·Who Files — Whoever is sending the IHT100-series account — commonly the trustees, or the personal representatives where a lifetime transfer has become chargeable on death
·2 pages · 27 fields guided
·Draws from your Estate File — Civil Dossier
Section01
§11
Section 1
Which reference you need — IHT122 or IHT422
There are two different Inheritance Tax references. Getting this wrong costs at least 3 weeks, because the wrong application has to be made again from the start.
01
IHT122 — the chargeable-event reference
Use IHT122 if Inheritance Tax is due because of a chargeable event: a charge arising on a trust, or on a lifetime transfer.
The form's own test is the practical one — fill it in if you are sending HMRC one of the IHT100 series of forms.
It cannot be submitted online. You complete it on screen, print it, and post it.
02
IHT422 — the death-estate reference
Use IHT422 if the tax is due on the estate of someone who has died.
That one can be applied for online, and it pairs with IHT400.
If you are administering a death estate, IHT422 is your form, not this one.
03
The 3-week lead time applies to both
HMRC asks you to apply for the reference at least 3 weeks before you make a payment.
Until the reference is issued there is nothing to match a payment to, so the clock on that 3 weeks is the real constraint — not the form, which takes about ten minutes.
There are two different Inheritance Tax references. Getting this wrong costs at least 3 weeks, because the wrong application has to be made again from the start.
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) · IHT122❦
Section02
§22
Section 2
Completing IHT122
Two pages, 27 numbered boxes — but you will not complete all of them. Boxes 1 to 5 always apply; after that the form offers three alternative sections and you complete exactly one.
01
Boxes 1–5 — who to contact
Surname or company name, first names, your own reference if you use one, the address the reference should be sent to, and a phone number.
This is where the reference will be posted, so it must be an address that will still be monitored in three weeks.
02
Section 1 (boxes 6–12) — the person who has died
Complete this if you are sending IHT100a to report a potentially exempt transfer that has become chargeable because the transferor has died, or IHT100b (death) to report that a qualifying interest in possession ended because someone died.
Asks for title, surname, first names, date of death, date of birth, National Insurance number, and the name of the settlement if there is one.
03
Section 2 (boxes 13–19) — the transferor
Complete this if you are sending IHT100a about a lifetime gift or transfer on which Inheritance Tax is immediately payable, or IHT100b where a qualifying interest in possession ended in full or in part during the person's lifetime.
Asks for title, surname, first names, the date of the chargeable event, date of birth, National Insurance number, and the settlement name if applicable.
04
Section 3 (boxes 20–27) — the settlor
For all other IHT100 forms, complete the settlor's details: title, surname, first names, date of the chargeable event, date of settlement, name of settlement, date of birth and National Insurance number.
This is the section most ten-year anniversary and exit charges will use.
Two pages, 27 numbered boxes — but you will not complete all of them. Boxes 1 to 5 always apply; after that the form offers three alternative sections and you complete exactly one.
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) · IHT122❦
Section03
§33
Section 3
Sending it, and what happens next
The form is posted, and the payment is posted separately. Combining them is the most common way to delay your own payment.
01
Where to send it
Inheritance Tax, HM Revenue and Customs, BX9 1HT.
There is no online submission route for this form.
02
Send any cheque separately
HMRC's instruction on the form is explicit: send your cheque separately, and do not include any other forms or letters with it.
If you enclose other forms or letters with a cheque, the form warns your payment may be delayed.
03
Fill in everything asked for
The form states that if you do not fill in all the details requested, HMRC may not be able to allocate a reference.
A partially completed application is not a slow application — it may simply not produce a reference, and the 3 weeks starts again.
04
Then the IHT100 account
Once the reference is issued, it is used on the IHT100-series form that reports the chargeable event itself.
If you need help beyond this form, HMRC's Inheritance Tax Helpline is 0300 123 1072 (+44 300 123 1072 from outside the UK).
The form is posted, and the payment is posted separately. Combining them is the most common way to delay your own payment.
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) · IHT122❦
Many people file IHT122 themselves — that is what this walkthrough is for. If the estate behind it has stopped being simple — inheritance tax to pay, a trust, foreign assets, a dispute — Signum, Valoren’s own specialist desk, can take it on, and we say so plainly: it starts with a free intake, and if you do not need us, we will tell you. Prefer an independent adviser? STEP and the Chartered Institute of Taxation both keep public member directories, and neither pays Valoren a referral fee.
FAQ
IHT122 questions, answered.
No. The death-estate reference (IHT422) has an online service; the chargeable-event reference does not.
You complete IHT122 on screen, print it, and post it to HMRC at BX9 1HT.
Broadly, an Inheritance Tax charge arising other than on a death estate — most often on a trust, or on a lifetime transfer.
In practice the test the form itself uses is simpler: if you are sending HMRC one of the IHT100 series of forms, IHT122 is the reference application that goes with it.
This is a plain-English guide to which form to use, not advice on whether a charge has arisen.
One of the IHT100 series.
IHT400 is the death-estate account; the IHT100 forms cover trusts and lifetime transfers. IHT122's own instructions say to use it when you are sending one of the IHT100 series.
Only one, and the form tells you which by reference to the IHT100 form you are sending.
Section 1 (boxes 6–12) is for the person who has died. Section 2 (boxes 13–19) is for the transferor where the charge arose in their lifetime. Section 3 (boxes 20–27) is for the settlor, and covers all other IHT100 forms.
HMRC warns that if you do not fill in every detail asked for, it may not be able to allocate a reference at all.
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Where this fits
IHT122 is one form. The file behind it is the rest.
IHT122 asks for names, dates of birth and National Insurance numbers — the same identity details the Civil Dossier already holds.
Apply early: the reference takes at least 3 weeks, and no payment can be made without it.
Send any cheque to HMRC separately — the form warns that enclosing other forms or letters with a cheque may delay the payment.
When you're ready — not before — our £179 Executor's First Hour walks you through registering the death, notifying banks and pensions, and getting probate started, in the right order. The free checklist above covers the essentials; this is for when you'd rather have a hand to hold. Executor's First Hour — £179 →
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC)·27 fields·Free·5 minutes with Valoren