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How to complete IHT407: valuing household and personal goods for Inheritance Tax

IHT407 covers everything physical in the estate that is not real property: furniture, jewellery, cars, artworks, antiques, collections, clothing, electronics, garden equipment, and tools.

Most everyday household contents are worth far less than people expect on the second-hand market.

But jewellery, antiques, silverware, and classic cars can be materially valuable — and HMRC expects a professional valuation for anything above about £500.

This walkthrough explains the inventory process, what needs a formal valuation, and how to handle donated items and missing items.

✓ Official source checked 2 September 2026 · GOV.UK last revised this form 27 July 2018IHT407 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 IHT407 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on GOV.UK — the link below fetches the current version live from GOV.UK the moment you click it, so it can never go out of date.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: July 2018 · confirmed on GOV.UK 2 September 2026

This walkthrough takes IHT407 field by field, in plain English. The form itself is short; the hard part is building a complete inventory of everything physical the person owned, and valuing it at second-hand open-market value — not what it cost new, and not what it would cost to insure or replace.

The valuation mistake HMRC looks for
Using insurance replacement value instead of second-hand resale value.

A three-piece suite insured for £3,000 new-for-old might fetch £150 at a house clearance.

A diamond ring insured for £5,000 might sell for £1,200 at auction.

HMRC wants the resale value — not what it cost to buy, not what it would cost to replace.

The exception: collectable or antique items where the market is active enough that resale value is close to, or above, original cost.
The form, in summary

The IHT407 form, in summary.

Valoren
IHT4074 pages18 fields guided
With Valoren30 minutes
Without Valoren2–4 hours
conducting the inventory; professional valuations can take weeks
Deadline
6 monthsinterest starts;
filed with IHT400
Who Files
Executoror administrator
with IHT400
£
Fee
Freevaluations are
estate expenses
Filed with HMRC
Draws from your Estate File
the records this form is built from
PersonalAsset Inventory·Property Folio·Policy Index·Digital Access Map·Financial Accounts·Income & Outgoings·Civil Dossier·Legal Instruments·Medical Abstract·Succession Plan·Digital Legacy Registry·Business Interests & Directorships·Funeral & Committal Wishes·Dependent Care & Handoff·Personal Record·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·PersonalAsset Inventory·Property Folio·Policy Index·Digital Access Map·Financial Accounts·Income & Outgoings·Civil Dossier·Legal Instruments·Medical Abstract·Succession Plan·Digital Legacy Registry·Business Interests & Directorships·Funeral & Committal Wishes·Dependent Care & Handoff·Personal Record·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

IHT407 requires an itemised list of all personal chattels — physical possessions — in the estate, valued at their open market value on the date of death.

The open market value means the price a willing buyer would pay for each item in a sale between unconnected parties.

For most everyday household contents this is the second-hand resale value (typically much lower than the original purchase price or insurance replacement value).

For items with genuine collector or antique value, a professional valuation is needed.

HMRC is most likely to scrutinise jewellery, antiques, art, classic cars, and collections.

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 · 18 fields guided
  • Draws from your Estate File — Asset Inventory, Property Folio, Policy Index
Section 1

What counts as a chattel — the inventory scope

The starting point is a complete inventory of everything in the deceased's home and storage.

This includes items that seem trivial as well as obviously valuable ones. Missing an item is not usually a problem; wildly undervaluing a significant item is.

Standard household contents

Furniture (sofas, beds, dining tables, wardrobes, kitchen appliances); soft furnishings (curtains, carpets, rugs — note that fitted carpets may be classed as fixtures and treated as part of the property valuation); clothing and personal effects; books, CDs, DVDs; garden furniture and tools; DIY tools and equipment.

For standard household contents in ordinary condition, a total 'house clearance' value (what a house-clearance firm would pay to take the lot) is generally acceptable to HMRC.

Items that need individual values

Jewellery (any piece that is not costume jewellery); watches (particularly branded — Rolex, Omega, etc.); artworks; antiques or collectable furniture; silverware and silver plate; ceramics, pottery, glass; coins, stamps, or other collections; wine cellars; sporting equipment (guns, fishing tackle collections); musical instruments.

Motor vehicles

Cars, motorcycles, boats, caravans, and motorhomes should be listed separately on IHT407.

For cars, use a recognised valuation guide (Glass's Guide, Parker's, or a main dealer written valuation) as at the date of death.

Classic or vintage cars require a specialist valuation.

If the car was effectively worthless (high mileage, poor condition, end-of-life) document that and value it accordingly — HMRC does not expect an inflated value for a vehicle a clearance firm would scrap.

Items on loan to others or stored off-site

Chattels that belong to the deceased but were on loan to another person, in storage, or kept at a second property must also be included.

The key question is ownership, not location at the date of death.

The starting point is a complete inventory of everything in the deceased's home and storage.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) · IHT407
Section 2

Valuation — when a professional is required

For ordinary household contents, executors can value items themselves (typically using second-hand resale prices from charity shops, eBay, and house-clearance firms as a benchmark).

For items of potential value, a professional valuation is strongly recommended.

HMRC's position on valuation evidence

HMRC expects the executor to take reasonable steps to identify valuable items and obtain appropriate valuations.

If HMRC later discovers that a significant item was undervalued (for example, a piece later sold at auction for far more than the declared IHT value), they can open an enquiry and may charge interest and penalties on any underpaid tax.

Who to use for valuations

For jewellery, watches, and silverware: a registered jeweller or the jewellery department of a major auction house (Bonhams, Christie's, Sotheby's, Fellows, Chiswick Auctions — most offer free probate valuations).

For fine art and antiques: a specialist auctioneer or fine-art valuer.

For general household antiques: a local BADA (British Antique Dealers' Association) or LAPADA (Association of Art & Antiques Dealers) member.

For classic cars: a marque specialist or a classic car auction house.

The £500 guideline

HMRC guidance suggests that individual items or collections worth £500 or more on the open market should be specifically identified and valued.

Items below this threshold can be grouped by category (for example, 'miscellaneous household contents — £800 total').

This is a guideline, not a hard rule — use judgment.

A single obvious piece of jewellery that looks potentially valuable should be professionally valued even if you expect it to come in under £500.

For ordinary household contents, executors can value items themselves (typically using second-hand resale prices from charity shops, eBay, and house-clearance firms as a benchmark).

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) · IHT407
Section 3

Completing IHT407

IHT407 asks for a description of each item or category, the basis for the valuation, and the value. There is no fixed format — executors can attach a separate schedule if the number of items is large.

Section A — general household contents

A single aggregate value for all everyday household contents is typically acceptable.

State the basis: 'estimated second-hand/house clearance value based on [date] inspection of contents at [address]'.

For contents that have already been sold (for example, to a house clearance firm), use the actual sale proceeds — they are strong evidence of market value.

Section B — personal effects and clothing

Clothing (unless the deceased had an unusually valuable wardrobe — designer pieces, historic items) is typically grouped and given a nominal value.

Personal effects include wallets, everyday watches, spectacles, and similar items.

Section C — items with individual values

List each individually identified item — jewellery, artworks, antiques, vehicles — with a description, the valuation basis, and the value.

Attach professional valuation letters where obtained.

Charitable donations of household goods

If household goods were donated to charity after death, the charity donation itself does not reduce IHT on the chattels (charity relief applies to the overall estate in different circumstances).

Report the items at their date-of-death value on IHT407.

Donated goods are separately recorded on IHT408.

IHT407 asks for a description of each item or category, the basis for the valuation, and the value. There is no fixed format — executors can attach a separate schedule if the number of items is large.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) · IHT407

Many people file IHT407 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

IHT407 questions, answered.

IHT407 is the HMRC schedule for listing the deceased's household and personal goods — their chattels.

That means everything physical that isn't real property: furniture, jewellery, watches, cars, artworks, antiques, silverware, collections, clothing, electronics, tools, and garden equipment.

It is a supplementary schedule to the IHT400 account, and each item or category is reported at its open-market value on the date of death.
The executor (if there is a will) or the administrator (if there isn't) completes it, as part of the IHT400 account.

You can value ordinary household contents yourself using second-hand prices as a benchmark, but for items that may be valuable — jewellery, antiques, art, classic cars — a professional valuation is advisable, and the cost of obtaining one is a legitimate estate expense.
There is no separate deadline for IHT407 on its own — it is filed with the IHT400 account, which must be delivered within 12 months of the end of the month in which the person died.

Any Inheritance Tax owed is due earlier, by the end of the sixth month, so it is worth starting the inventory and any professional valuations early, because specialist valuations can take several weeks to arrange.
No. There is no charge to file IHT407 or the IHT400 account.

The only costs are any professional valuations you choose to obtain — for jewellery, fine art, antiques, or classic cars — and those are treated as estate expenses.

Many auction houses offer free probate valuations, so a professional opinion need not always cost money.
You need a full inventory of the deceased's possessions (the Asset Inventory record), including items on loan to others or in storage elsewhere — ownership matters, not location.

You also need any professional valuation letters, vehicle valuation evidence as at the date of death, and the date-of-death value of anything later sold or donated.

Property records (the Property Folio) help where fitted carpets or other fixtures may belong with the house valuation rather than the chattels, and insurance schedules (the Policy Index) are a useful cross-check — though insurance value is not the figure HMRC wants.
Using insurance replacement value instead of second-hand resale value.

HMRC wants the open-market value under IHTA 1984 s.160 — what a willing buyer would pay in a sale between unconnected parties.

For most everyday contents that is the house-clearance or resale figure, which is usually far below the purchase or insurance value.

The exception is collectable or antique items, where resale value can be close to, or above, original cost — and where HMRC is most likely to look closely.

For those, it is worth obtaining a professional valuation; if you are unsure how to value a significant item, check HMRC's guidance (IHTM15000) and consider professional advice.

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Where this fits

IHT407 is one form. The file behind it is the rest.

Forms are easier when the records are ready.

For IHT407, that means a complete inventory of the household contents and personal goods, any professional valuations for jewellery, antiques, art, or classic cars, vehicle valuation evidence (a recognised guide or dealer letter as at the date of death), and the date-of-death values for anything sold or donated.

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)18 fieldsNo separate fee; professional valuations are estate expenses30 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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