How to apply for the IHT30 clearance certificate, when clearance is needed, income tax and CGT during administration, preparing final estate accounts, distributing the residue, and formally closing the estate.
This guide is part of ProbateHelp's Probate Process guide cluster. Estimated reading time: 16 min.
This guide explains how executors close the tax side of an estate, including when HMRC clearance may be relevant, how final inheritance tax, income tax or capital gains tax issues can affect distributions, and why estate accounts should be kept before the estate is closed.
It is aimed at executors who have reached the post-grant stage and need to decide what evidence to keep, when to wait before distributing the residue, and how to record the final tax position for beneficiaries.
Also searched as: clearance closing estate; closing estate; h m r c clearance closing estate.
You are not legally required to do so, but it is strongly advisable for any estate where IHT400 was submitted. Without clearance, you remain personally exposed to any future IHT demands from HMRC. For excepted estates, clearance is automatic 35 days after the grant.
They are the same form. The D18 was the old name used in earlier HMRC guidance. The current form is called IHT30: Application for a Clearance Certificate. If you see references to D18 in older articles or solicitor letters, they mean IHT30.
HMRC does not publish a guaranteed public turnaround time on the GOV.UK IHT30 page. In practice, executors and solicitors can wait weeks or months, especially where HMRC has queries. Submit the IHT30 once the IHT position is settled, keep evidence of submission, and chase HMRC if the delay starts to hold up final distribution.
No. If you distribute before settling income tax and CGT liabilities, you can become personally liable for those taxes if beneficiaries cannot or will not return the funds. Always obtain a final tax position before making the last distributions.
Beneficiaries are not legally required to approve estate accounts. If a beneficiary refuses to engage, document your attempts to contact them and proceed carefully. A beneficiary who later disputes the accounts will need to bring a formal challenge and show why the accounts are wrong.
Keep IHT records for at least 20 years after the tax was paid because HMRC can ask to see them within that period. Keep income tax and CGT records for at least 6 years from the end of the tax year in which the administration ended. Keep estate accounts, receipts, and correspondence for at least 6 years.
If a significant asset or liability comes to light after distribution, you may need to reopen the estate. For assets, collect them in and distribute them to the beneficiaries. For debts, you may need to recover funds from beneficiaries. This is why a retention fund and clear records matter.