IHT and Delayed Wakes

Is HMRC likely to accept an amendment to the IHT400 for the costs of a Covid-delayed wake/memorial?

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My mother died last year, without having any wake because of Covid restrictions. In fact, as she hated funerals, there wasn't even a service and her body went directly to the crematorium. As an ACA (and therefore loathe to give money to solicitors) I have done all the estate administration myself.  IHT was computed and settled at the start of this year.  New lockdowns/restrictions permitting, I am now planning on holding a memorial get-together for her this summer (cost around £1,000).  Under usual times, this cost would have been incurred shortly after her death and would have been an allowable funeral expense on the IHT400.   It would therefore seem reasonable, given that the event could not happen close to her death, that the IHT400 can be amended, and the estate can get 40% IHT back on the memorial costs.

 Does anyone have any experience of whether HMRC are permitting such adjustments?  Obviously I will probably have to wait months (years?) for HMRC to process this, but it's a decent sum so seems worth the effort.

BTW Date of death to grant of probate was under 5 months - just shows what you can do when you don't go near our legal friends :)

Replies (8)

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paddle steamer
By DJKL
07th Jun 2021 16:43

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/inheritance-tax-manual/ihtm10374

IHTM10374 - Funeral expenses (box 81): memorial services
You should seek advice where any claim to deduct the cost of a separate memorial service is made.

Well- the IHT internal manual obviously sees distinct memorial services as something that needs internal discussion.

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By Wanderer
07th Jun 2021 17:01

Clare Beazley wrote:

BTW Date of death to grant of probate was under 5 months - just shows what you can do when you don't go near our legal friends :)

Obtained probate in under two months, back in 2011!
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By SXGuy
07th Jun 2021 17:59

I did my mother's also, similar timescales to yours. I wouldn't want to do it for others though.

I believe you can amend the forms but as to how you get the refund no idea.

Perhaps with hindsight it would have been better to factor the cost at the time knowing it would have been delayed anyway.

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By Hugo Fair
07th Jun 2021 18:47

As you probably know, when an IHT return has been submitted (calculated on the value of assets at the date of death) - but these values were higher than those actually achieved on the eventual sale of shares or property - then IHT Loss Relief is available (to apply for a refund of the overpaid tax due to property or shares being sold at the lower value).

[There are restrictions on a claim for IHT Loss Relief - principally:
* for listed shares and securities and unit trusts, the eventual sales must take place within 12 months of death using IHT35; and
* for land and property, the eventual sales must take place within 4 years of the date of death using IHT38.
Also, the time limits for making these claims are 5 and 7 years respectively.]

However I've not encountered an option to amend the IHT400 itself once submitted - I seem to recall cases where this has worked both ways (where an extra shareholding was discovered after estate disbursements, and where an unknown bill was similarly presented too late) ... in both of those the HMRC response was to 'just ignore it' (from the IHT perspective) - although they were both the best part of a decade ago when you could talk to an intelligent human and get a coherent recommendation.

Of course Covid-19 may make a difference, so you can always try finding someone at HMRC to advise you ... but I suspect it won't be worth your while.

EDIT: Not sure if it's still in current use but I've just located the C4 form (used to correct the Inheritance Tax paid on IHT400) downloadable from https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploa...

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Replying to Hugo Fair:
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By Clare Beazley
09th Jun 2021 11:21

Thanks so much for finding the C4 form. It looks pretty straightforward. I was also going to try asking via an HMRC IHT webchat, but getting one can require a long wait.

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By meadowsaw227
08th Jun 2021 12:51

The things people will do to save £400

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By Ajtms
09th Jun 2021 10:02

I have had no problem making adjustments like these on the C4 form, provided that you have not already claimed Clearance on form IHT30

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Replying to Ajtms:
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By Clare Beazley
09th Jun 2021 13:44

That's good to hear. Sounds like that is the route to go down. Thanks.

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