Given that the smooth running of the process requires both HMRC and the Probate Service to act in a timely manner, delays with both agencies have meant that over the past two years, those dealing with deceased estates have been presented with months' long delays.
Dealing with HMRC during the pandemic
The IHT department at HMRC was initially affected by Brexit, as many of its tax experts – those who deal with any detailed IHT queries, often undertaking 'compliance checks', or detailed reviews, of complex estates – were moved away from their normal job roles to temporarily assist with governmental Brexit planning.
Once the pandemic hit, moreover, all HMRC officers, including those dealing with queries on their IHT helpline, switched to working from home. This created huge issues which have not yet been fully resolved, as HMRC broadly only communicates by post and this has proven increasingly difficult.
Correspondence has often gone missing, or not been sent at all, as the majority of HMRC case workers have continued to work from home and arrangements to have correspondence printed and posted by HMRC colleagues working from the office have consistently failed.
As has been true for a number of years, although a specific case worker is assigned to each estate, no direct contact details are ever given – the only way to get in touch with HMRC other than by post is to call the above mentioned IHT helpline. During the pandemic this has been particularly frustrating, as those on the helpline can only access the notes left by case workers on the HMRC system.
In the first few months of the pandemic this meant that receipts for tax paid were routinely not issued. Thankfully the system has now much improved as the IHT department can now share receipts in electronic form direct with the Probate Service.
Nonetheless issues remain, and there can often be delays with issuing the receipt – this could be because the case worker does not have access to all the paperwork (whether because it has not been sent to them or, more often than not, because it has not been scanned properly when received by HMRC). Although HMRC have 20 working days to issue the receipt, it is always best to call the IHT helpline after the 15th working day or so, as at that stage it may be possible to ask HMRC to expedite issue of the receipt. Generally speaking, calling HMRC on their IHT helpline is still the best way to move matters along, and should be done frequently – every few weeks.
It should be said that there have been some improvements at HMRC, as follows:
