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How to complete IHT411: listed shares, ISAs, and unit trusts for Inheritance Tax

IHT411 covers every share and fund in the deceased's name that is listed on a public stock exchange or quoted market.

The quarter-up rule governs the valuation of listed shares.

Collectively managed funds (ISAs, unit trusts, SIPPs invested in funds) are valued differently.

And ISAs, despite their name, are fully within the estate for IHT — the tax-free shelter dies with the holder.

This walkthrough covers how to get the right prices, how to handle shares that have since been sold, and the loss-on-sale relief that can reduce IHT when a falling market hits a portfolio in administration.

✓ Official source checked 2 September 2026 · GOV.UK last revised this form 23 December 2022IHT411 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 IHT411 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on GOV.UK — the link below fetches the current version live from GOV.UK the moment you click it, so it can never go out of date.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: December 2022 · confirmed on GOV.UK 2 September 2026

This walkthrough takes IHT411 field by field, in plain English. Most of the work is finding the holdings and pricing them; the hard part is tracking down shares scattered across platforms and registrars, applying the quarter-up rule to the date-of-death prices, and remembering that an ISA gives no inheritance-tax shelter at all.

The ISA tax-shelter dies with the holder
Forgetting that ISAs cease to be tax-sheltered the moment the holder dies.

The ISA investments remain in the estate at their full market value for IHT — the ISA wrapper offers no IHT protection whatsoever.

Separately, the Continuing Bonds scheme means that surviving spouses/civil partners can make an additional ISA subscription equal to the deceased's ISA value — but that is a future tax-planning step, not an IHT reduction now.
The form, in summary

The IHT411 form, in summary.

Valoren
IHT4114 pages24 fields guided
With Valoren25 minutes
Without Valoren1–3 hours
gathering holding details from multiple platforms/registrars
Deadline
6 monthsinterest starts;
filed with IHT400
Who Files
Executoror administrator
with IHT400
£
Fee
Freevaluation costs
are estate expenses
Filed with HMRC
Draws from your Estate File
the records this form is built from
PersonalFinancial Accounts·Digital Access Map·Asset Inventory·Income & Outgoings·Civil Dossier·Policy Index·Legal Instruments·Medical Abstract·Property Folio·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·PersonalFinancial Accounts·Digital Access Map·Asset Inventory·Income & Outgoings·Civil Dossier·Policy Index·Legal Instruments·Medical Abstract·Property Folio·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

IHT411 reports all listed (publicly quoted) shares, unit trusts, OEICs, government stocks (gilts), and ISA investments held in the deceased's sole name.

Jointly held investments are reported on IHT404.

The valuation rule is the 'quarter-up' formula: take the lower of the day's bid and offer prices, and add one quarter of the difference.

For collective investments (unit trusts, OEICs) use the published bid price on the date of death.

If the date of death is a day markets were closed, use the price from the last trading day before death and compare to the next trading day, using whichever gives the lower 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 · 24 fields guided
  • Draws from your Estate File — Financial Accounts
Section 1

Finding all shareholdings — the inventory challenge

Shares and funds can be scattered across multiple platforms, broker accounts, and paper registrations. Finding them all is often the hardest part of IHT411.

Online investment platforms

Hargreaves Lansdown, AJ Bell Youinvest, Interactive Investor, Fidelity, Vanguard, and similar platforms hold shares and funds in nominee accounts.

Contact each platform's bereavement team.

They will provide a portfolio valuation as at the date of death (usually within 5–10 working days of receiving the death certificate).

Direct share registrations

Some shareholders hold shares in their own name on the company's register (particularly older holdings from privatisations, demutualisations, or employee share schemes).

The registrars are Computershare, Link Group, and Equiniti.

These shares appear on paper certificates or dividend confirmations.

Search the deceased's post and files for correspondence from these registrars.

Dividend payments as clues

Bank statements showing periodic small credits (often quarterly) from company registrars are a reliable indicator of shareholdings.

Amounts like £12.50, £43.20, or similar small dividends often indicate a dormant or forgotten holding that needs to be included on IHT411.

ISAs and stocks and shares ISAs

A stocks and shares ISA is an account that holds funds and/or individual shares inside a tax wrapper.

On death, the ISA wrapper is irrelevant for IHT — the underlying investments are valued and reported on IHT411.

The platform's bereavement team will provide a date-of-death valuation of the ISA's contents.

Shares and funds can be scattered across multiple platforms, broker accounts, and paper registrations. Finding them all is often the hardest part of IHT411.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) · IHT411
Section 2

The quarter-up rule — how to value listed shares

Listed shares traded on UK stock exchanges (London Stock Exchange, AIM) are valued using the quarter-up formula.

The required prices are the opening and closing prices on the date of death — not the mid-market price, not the closing price alone.

The formula

Step 1: find the lower price (the 'bid' price — the price at which the market would buy the share from you) on the date of death.

Step 2: find the difference between the lower price and the higher price (the 'offer' price) on the same date.

Step 3: add one quarter of that difference to the lower price.

Example: a share quoted at 100p–108p on the date of death.

Quarter-up value = 100 + (8 × 0.25) = 102p per share.

Where to find historic prices

The London Stock Exchange website provides end-of-day prices.

Financial data providers (Morningstar, FT.com, ShareScope) also provide historic OHLC data.

HMRC's shares valuation manual references the Stock Exchange Daily Official List (SEDOL) as the authoritative source for listed security prices.

When markets were closed

If the date of death falls on a Saturday, Sunday, bank holiday, or other non-trading day, use the prices from the last trading day before and the first trading day after, and take the lower of the two quarter-up values calculated.

This is the HMRC-prescribed approach.

Collective investments — unit trusts and OEICs

Unit trusts and OEICs (Open-Ended Investment Companies) are priced differently from shares — they publish daily prices based on the fund's net asset value.

For IHT411, use the published bid price (the 'sell' price) on the date of death.

If only a single 'mid' price is published, that is the IHT value.

Unit trust prices are published by the fund manager and are available on their website or financial data services.

Listed shares traded on UK stock exchanges (London Stock Exchange, AIM) are valued using the quarter-up formula.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) · IHT411
Section 3

Loss on sale relief — reclaiming IHT when investments fall

If listed investments are sold during the administration period at a price LOWER than the declared IHT value, executors can claim a tax refund under the loss on sale of qualifying investments relief.

How the relief works

Under IHTA 1984 ss.178–189, if the estate sells listed investments within 12 months of death at a lower total price than the IHT value declared, the sale price can be substituted for the IHT value.

The estate's IHT is then simply recalculated on the lower substituted value — the refund is the difference between the two computations at whichever rate applies to the estate, not a flat percentage of the loss.

The claim must be made within 5 years after the date of death.

The 'portfolio' basis

The relief applies to the portfolio as a whole — you cannot cherry-pick which holdings to include.

If some investments rose in value between death and sale, and others fell, the rises offset the falls when computing the total loss.

If the total sale proceeds exceed the total IHT value, there is no claim (and you do not pay additional IHT on gains).

Practical implication

If you inherit a portfolio during a market decline, do not rush to sell before considering whether loss-relief applies.

Make sure to document all sales (dates, proceeds, quantities) — you will need these for the claim.

The claim is made by writing to HMRC Inheritance Tax with a schedule of all qualifying investments sold and the proceeds.

If listed investments are sold during the administration period at a price LOWER than the declared IHT value, executors can claim a tax refund under the loss on sale of qualifying investments relief.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) · IHT411

Many people file IHT411 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

IHT411 questions, answered.

IHT411 is the HMRC schedule, filed with the IHT400, that reports listed (publicly quoted) shares, unit trusts, OEICs, government stocks (gilts) and ISA investments held in the deceased's sole name.

Jointly held investments go on IHT404 instead, and unlisted or control holdings go on IHT412.
The executor or administrator (the personal representatives), as part of the IHT400 account for the estate.
It is filed with the IHT400, 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.

There is no separate IHT411 deadline — it follows the IHT400 account it forms part of.
No. There is no fee to file IHT411 with HMRC.

Any stockbroker or platform valuation costs are treated as estate expenses.
No. The ISA wrapper protects income tax and capital gains tax while the holder is alive, but it offers no inheritance-tax shelter on death.

The underlying investments are valued at full market value and reported on IHT411 like any other holding.

A surviving spouse or civil partner can later make an additional ISA subscription (the Additional Permitted Subscription) equal to the deceased's ISA value, but that is a future tax-planning step for the survivor — not a reduction in the IHT due now.
Possibly. If the personal representatives sell listed investments within 12 months of death for less, in total, than the value declared at death, the lower sale figure can be substituted for the date-of-death value — reducing the taxable estate, and the IHT on it.

It is an all-or-nothing portfolio calculation (rises offset falls; you cannot cherry-pick), claimed on form IHT35, and the claim must be made within 4 years of the end of that 12-month sale period.

Check HMRC's guidance (IHTM34011) and consider professional advice before relying on it.

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Where this fits

IHT411 is one form. The file behind it is the rest.

Forms are easier when the records are ready.

For IHT411, that means the platform and broker date-of-death valuations, the share-register correspondence from Computershare, Link Group or Equiniti, the quoted date-of-death prices for each listed holding (so you can apply the quarter-up rule), and — if anything is sold during administration — the sale dates and proceeds needed for any loss-on-sale claim.

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)24 fieldsNo separate fee; stockbroker valuation costs are estate expenses25 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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