Inheritance tax receipts for April 2021 to January 2022 rose £0.7bn year on year to £5bn, an increase of over 16%.

Financial Planners have warned that better planning is needed to help thousands avoid steadily rising Inheritance Tax bills as more estates are caught by the death tax.

Inheritance tax receipts rose 35% between April and August, up a third year on year, with Covid-19 deaths a potential factor in the increase.

Over £280m of inheritance tax may have been unnecessarily paid on life insurance policies in 2018/19 which could have been avoided if the policies had been written in trust, according to a leading Chartered Financial Planner.