IHTM33044 - Procedures: provisional relief

Any relief you give will be on a provisional basis only unless either

• a period of four years and four months has elapsed since the date of death,
• no further amendment to the relief is possible or
• box 1 on page 4 of the IHT 38 has been ticked.

The following are examples of situations where no further amendment to the relief is possible

• the ‘appropriate person’ ( IHTM33050) has sold all the deceased’s ‘interests in land’ ( IHTM33061) at that title within the four years, and four months have elapsed since the last sale
• the unsold interests in land have been passed to beneficiaries who have not and are not paying tax on the property
• a beneficiary who has paid or is paying the tax has sold within the four year period all the interests in land that were received following the deceased’s death.

If the relief is provisional you must not

• close your case or enquiry, or
• issue a clearance certificate ( IHTM40000) at any entry until the relief becomes final ( IHTM33045).

If a taxpayer at any entry asks for clearance they should be told that the clearance certificate cannot be issued at present because the final amount of inheritance tax due is not yet agreed.

The next page ( IHTM33045) tells you what you must do to finalise the relief.