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How to complete IHT406: bank accounts and savings for Inheritance Tax

IHT406 is where every bank account, savings account, ISA, and premium bond in the deceased's sole name gets listed — with the balance at the exact date of death.

Most banks will provide this figure in a bereavement letter within a few days.

Premium Bonds need a separate valuation from NS&I.

This walkthrough covers what to request from each type of institution, how to handle accounts that have been closed before death, and the small-estate threshold that lets some accounts bypass probate entirely.

✓ Official source checked 2 September 2026 · GOV.UK last revised this form 3 August 2023IHT406 on GOV.UK
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United KingdomInformational, not legal or financial adviceOfficial source: GOV.UK
Official form · always current

This is the same official IHT406 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on GOV.UK — the link below fetches the current version live from GOV.UK the moment you click it, so it can never go out of date.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: August 2023 · confirmed on GOV.UK 2 September 2026

This walkthrough takes IHT406 field by field, in plain English. Most of the schedule is just transcription; the hard part is getting the exact date-of-death balance from each bank, building society and NS&I — not the current balance the account shows weeks later.

Use the date-of-death balance, not the current balance
Using the current balance rather than the date-of-death balance.

Banks do not freeze accounts the instant someone dies — transactions may continue to post for days (direct debits, standing orders, incoming pension payments).

The figure HMRC requires is the balance at the close of business on the date of death, not whatever the account shows when you contact the bank weeks later.

Always request the date-of-death balance specifically.
The form, in summary

The IHT406 form, in summary.

Valoren
IHT4064 pages20 fields guided
With Valoren20 minutes
Without Valoren1–2 hours
gathering date-of-death balances from each institution
Deadline
6 monthsinterest starts;
filed with IHT400
Who Files
Executoror administrator
with IHT400
£
Fee
Freeschedule to
IHT400
Filed with HMRC
Draws from your Estate File
the records this form is built from
PersonalFinancial Accounts·Civil Dossier·Personal Record·Digital Access Map·Asset Inventory·Income & Outgoings·Policy Index·Legal Instruments·Medical Abstract·Property Folio·Succession Plan·Digital Legacy Registry·Business Interests & Directorships·Funeral & Committal Wishes·Dependent Care & Handoff·RegistryMaster Registry·Renewal Register·People, Authority & Contacts·Designated Places·Kinship & Succession Map·SecureAccess Controls·Recovery Routes·Custody & Contingency·EventsDeath & Estate Activation·Incapacity & Medical Proxy·Absence & Continuity Cover·Access Loss & Identity Recovery·Legal Dispute & Evidence Protocol·Theft & Asset Compromise·Property Damage & Incident Response·Relocation & Address Update Protocol·Separation & Custody Documentation·Business Interruption & Continuity·PersonalFinancial Accounts·Civil Dossier·Personal Record·Digital Access Map·Asset Inventory·Income & Outgoings·Policy Index·Legal Instruments·Medical Abstract·Property Folio·Succession Plan·Digital Legacy Registry·Business Interests & Directorships·Funeral & Committal Wishes·Dependent Care & Handoff·RegistryMaster Registry·Renewal Register·People, Authority & Contacts·Designated Places·Kinship & Succession Map·SecureAccess Controls·Recovery Routes·Custody & Contingency·EventsDeath & Estate Activation·Incapacity & Medical Proxy·Absence & Continuity Cover·Access Loss & Identity Recovery·Legal Dispute & Evidence Protocol·Theft & Asset Compromise·Property Damage & Incident Response·Relocation & Address Update Protocol·Separation & Custody Documentation·Business Interruption & Continuity·
Legal basisStatute

IHT406 reports all bank accounts, building society accounts, cash ISAs, premium bonds, and similar cash savings held in the deceased's sole name.

Jointly held accounts are reported on IHT404.

The value entered for each account is the balance at the date of death — not the current balance.

Cash ISAs lose their ISA status on the date of death (income and gains after death are taxable in the estate), but the capital balance is an estate asset at its full face value.

Section by section

The form, section by section.

Before you start, you’ll need:
  • Who Files — The executor or administrator, as part of the IHT400 account
  • 4 pages · 20 fields guided
  • Draws from your Estate File — Financial Accounts, Civil Dossier, Personal Record
Section 1

What to include — sole-name accounts only

IHT406 covers only accounts in the deceased's sole name. Joint accounts go on IHT404. If you are unsure whether an account is sole or joint, the bank's bereavement team can confirm.

Current accounts and savings accounts

All sole-name current accounts (even if overdrawn — overdrawn balances are a liability of the estate, reported elsewhere), savings accounts, fixed-term deposits, notice accounts, and premium bonds.

Cash ISAs

The ISA loses its tax-advantaged status at the moment of death — but the capital value at the date of death is an estate asset.

Report the full balance.

Post-death interest accrued in the ISA (from date of death to when the account is closed) is taxable income of the estate, not IHT-free.

Premium Bonds

National Savings & Investments (NS&I) will provide a date-of-death valuation. Contact NS&I bereavement service.

Premium bonds cannot be transferred; they must be cashed in by the estate.

However, they remain eligible for the monthly prize draw for up to 12 months after the bondholder's death — the estate can choose to leave them in the draw and inherit any prizes.

Accounts closed before death

If an account was closed in the months before death and the proceeds moved elsewhere (to another account, or spent), HMRC may ask about it.

If the money was a gift to someone else in the 7 years before death, it needs to go on IHT403.

If it was spent on living costs, no further action is needed.

IHT406 covers only accounts in the deceased's sole name. Joint accounts go on IHT404. If you are unsure whether an account is sole or joint, the bank's bereavement team can confirm.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) · IHT406
Section 2

Getting the date-of-death balance from banks

Every bank has a bereavement team.

The fastest route is to contact each bank's bereavement helpline, provide the death certificate reference, and request a written date-of-death balance for all sole accounts. Most banks respond within 5–10 working days.

What to ask for

Ask specifically for 'the balance on [account number] at the close of business on [date of death]'. Phrase it exactly this way — some bank staff will otherwise quote the current balance or the balance when you called.

You will need the death certificate (registered or certified copy) and the account holder's date of birth to verify identity.

Small estates — release without probate

Most UK banks will release accounts below a certain threshold without requiring the Grant of Probate.

Thresholds vary: HSBC and Lloyds typically release up to £50,000; others vary between £5,000 and £30,000.

If the total estate is small and the accounts are the main asset, it may be possible to close them without probate at all — ask each bank about their small estate procedure.

Frozen accounts and direct debits

Banks freeze the account for new outgoing transactions on notification of death (some do so immediately, others wait for formal notification).

Direct debits and standing orders should be cancelled.

If a pension or benefit payment arrives in the account after death, it may need to be returned — the DWP in particular will request repayment of any state pension paid after the date of death.

Every bank has a bereavement team.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) · IHT406
Section 3

The interest question — accrued interest at date of death

Interest that has been credited to the account before death is part of the balance. Interest that accrued before death but was not yet credited (accrued interest) may also need to be included.

Credited interest

If interest was credited to the account before the date of death, it is included in the date-of-death balance and no further action is needed — IHT406 captures it automatically through the balance.

Accrued but uncredited interest

For savings accounts that pay interest annually (e.g. end-of-year interest), there may be interest that had accrued up to the date of death but had not yet been credited.

This 'accrued interest' is technically an asset of the estate.

For most accounts, banks will include it in their date-of-death valuation.

If the bank provides a balance at close of business without accrued interest, ask for the accrued interest figure separately.

Income tax on post-death interest

Interest earned in the accounts after the date of death is income of the estate.

It is taxable in the hands of the estate (at 20% basic rate for interest), and must be reported on the estate's income tax return (or declared by the executor).

This is a separate matter from IHT — but do not overlook it.

Interest that has been credited to the account before death is part of the balance. Interest that accrued before death but was not yet credited (accrued interest) may also need to be included.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) · IHT406

Many people file IHT406 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

IHT406 questions, answered.

IHT406 is the Inheritance Tax schedule that lists every bank account, building society account, cash ISA, savings account and Premium Bond holding held in the deceased's sole name.

It is a supporting schedule to the IHT400 account, and the figure entered for each account is the balance at the date of death — not the current balance.

Jointly held accounts are reported on IHT404 instead.
The executor (where there is a will) or the administrator (where there is not) completes it, as part of preparing the IHT400 estate account.

If a solicitor or accountant is administering the estate, they will usually fill it in from the date-of-death balances you supply.
There is no separate deadline.

It is filed with the IHT400, which must be delivered within 12 months of the end of the month in which the person died.

Inheritance Tax itself falls due earlier — by the end of the sixth month, with interest accruing after that point — so gathering the date-of-death balances early matters.
No. IHT406 is a free schedule that forms part of the IHT400 account — there is no charge to HMRC for submitting it.

(Probate application fees are separate and are not paid here.)
A list of every sole-name account and savings product; the written date-of-death balance or bereavement letter from each institution (banks and building societies for accounts and cash ISAs, NS&I for Premium Bonds); the deceased's death certificate, which each bank requires before releasing a balance; and their date of birth, used to verify the request.
Entering the current balance instead of the balance at the close of business on the date of death.

Accounts are not frozen the instant someone dies — direct debits, standing orders and incoming payments can keep posting for days.

When you contact each institution, ask specifically for the balance as at the date of death.

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Where this fits

IHT406 is one form. The file behind it is the rest.

Forms are easier when the records are ready.

For IHT406, that means a list of every sole-name account, building society and savings account, cash ISA and Premium Bond holding; the bereavement letter or written date-of-death balance from each institution; the death certificate each bank asks for before releasing a balance; and the deceased's date of birth used to verify the request.

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)20 fieldsNo separate fee20 minutes with Valoren
The return this attaches to

This is one schedule. It attaches to the IHT400 — the main Inheritance Tax account — which is where every schedule you complete comes together.

Next: IHT400
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