Kingsley Napley’s Inheritance Tax Leaderboard

Where people currently pay the most inheritance tax by local authority….and how Andy Burnham may change that

An analysis by law firm Kingsley Napley of HMRC inheritance tax data just released for tax year 2023-24 shows the geographical dispersal of estates hit by inheritance tax bills.

Based on the latest HMRC figures (published this morning) of inheritance tax paying estates, Kingsley Napley can reveal:

• By total amount of inheritance tax paid, Kensington topped the leaderboard (again) by contributing £107m to the Government’s coffers (down from £154m last year), followed by the Cities of London & Westminster and Richmond Park localities.
• By volume of estates paying inheritance tax, Esher & Walton had the highest number of estates affected (up from third place last year), followed by Richmond Park and Chichester for the year in question.
• In terms of constituencies in the north, Harrogate & Knaresborough paid the most IHT (£53m) and Tatton had the most estates by number paying IHT (69).
• The top 20 localities paying the most IHT were all in London and the South East except for Edinburgh South (which ranked 13^th ) with 103 estates paying £41m and South West Hertfordshire (ranking 18^th) and Brentwood & Ongar (ranking 20^th) in the East paying £37m and £36m respectively.

Today’s data also shows that the total number of UK deaths that resulted in an IHT charge in 2023 to 2024 was 30,400, down 3.6% on 2022-2023. However IHT tax liabilities for the tax year 2023 to 2024 were £7.03 billion up £0.33bn (5%) compared to the previous year.  The average amount of IHT paid across all taxpaying estates increased by 9% (£19,000) between the tax years 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024, and now stands at £231,000.

James Ward, Head of the Private Client Practice at Kingsley Napley, comments:

“As usual, London and South-East constituencies top our leaderboard but the bigger picture is that more and more estates across the country were dragged into the IHT net for the year in question largely due to the fact tax bands have been stuck since 2009. 

For the last decade, of course, house price growth has been the primary driver of the year on year increased IHT haul but that may be about to change. The decision to make pensions subject to IHT from 2027 may well be a significant contributor to the tax take in future given it is expected this change will add approximately 10,500 more estates to HMRC’s sights.

The big question, however, is what further changes to our inheritance tax regime are on the horizon under new PM Andy Burnham. Some are speculating he may abolish inheritance tax altogether in favour of a flat levy on all estates to fund social care reforms. Others think he may introduce this on top of the current regime and in addition to other property or land tax measures.

We also know that various options remain open to him in terms of tweaks to the current IHT regime without breaking manifesto pledges. Reform of the gifting rules, use of the IHT nil rate band or residence nil rate band and removal of capital gains tax uplift on death for example are changes Rachel Reeves supposedly considered and could still be on the cards.

As I have said before, IHT is our wealth tax in this country and if it disappears, the alternative could be far worse. However, we have still seen a huge uptick in inquiries in recent months from families wanting to protect their wealth as far as possible from potential changes.

There is still a window to plan mitigation steps before Andy Burnham’s Autumn budget – by gifting, setting up trusts or investing in business relief qualifying assets. Despite today’s figures it is not simply those in London and South East postcodes who should urgently consider active estate planning but anyone with sizeable estates wherever they live in the UK.”

ENDS

For press enquiries, please contact:

Louise Beeson at Bell Yard Kysen Communications: Louise@BYKcomms.com/ 07768 956997

Lauren Hurst at Bell Yard Kysen Communications: Lauren@BYKcomms.com / 07528 382514

NOTES FOR EDITORS

The Kingsley Napley Inheritance Tax Leaderboard is based on HMRC data from Inheritance Tax Returns published on 30 July 2026

(Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/inheritance-tax-liabilities-statistics/inheritance-tax-liabilities-statistics-commentary)

TABLES

Tax Receipts By Volume 2023/24 (source HMRC):

Tax Receipts By Value 2023/24:

PREVIOUS FIGURES:

Tax Receipts By Volume 2022/23 (source HMRC):

Tax Receipts By Value 2022/23: 

Tax Receipts By Volume 2021/22 (source HMRC):

Tax Receipts By Value 2021/22:

Previous crunches of this annual data can be found here:

The Kingsley Napley Inheritance Tax Leaderboard is based on HMRC data from Inheritance Tax Returns published on 30 July 2026 (Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/inheritance-tax-liabilities-statistics/inheritance-tax-liabilities-statistics-commentary

2025 press release https://www.kingsleynapley.co.uk/our-insights/press-releases/kingsley-napleys-inheritance-tax-leaderboard/

2024 press release https://www.kingsleynapley.co.uk/our-news/press-releases/kingsley-napleys-inheritance-tax-olympics

2022 press release: https://www.kingsleynapley.co.uk/our-news/press-releases/is-iht-reform-now-on-thecards#:~:text=Kingsley%20Napley’s%20’Inheritance%20Tax%20Premier,receipts%20totalled%20%C2%A36.1bn.

2021 press release: https://www.kingsleynapley.co.uk/our-news/press-releases/kingsley-napley-unveils-the-inheritance-tax-premier-league-itpl