In this section:
- Tax returns for personal representatives
- Completing a tax return on behalf of someone who has died
- Completing the Trust and Estate return following a death
- Tax records needed when someone dies
- Paying the deceased's tax
Completing a tax return on behalf of someone who has died
If you're the personal representative of someone who has died you'll need to settle their tax affairs before you can move on to distributing their assets according to their wishes - or as the law requires. If the deceased would have completed a Self Assessment (SA) tax return, you'll have to fill one in on their behalf.
On this page:
- When will you need to complete a return?
- Getting help and advice
- Which tax return to complete
- When to complete the tax forms
- How to send us the tax return
- What happens next
When will you need to complete a return?
You'll need to complete a tax return for the person who has died if they've sent us returns in previous years. You can find this out by asking the Tax Office that dealt with their tax affairs.
Even if they didn't send in returns in previous years, you may sometimes still need to complete one for them. This depends on what their circumstances were at the time when they died.
The return will cover the period from 6 April to the date the person died. If there are any tax returns outstanding for earlier tax years, you'll also have to complete those to settle the deceased's tax affairs completely.
The reason we may ask you to fill in a tax return is to make sure the right amount of tax has been paid. It may be that there's some more tax to pay, or a repayment may be due.
Claiming a tax repayment
If the death occurred part way through the tax year then there may be a tax repayment due, rather than additional tax to pay. This is because we give the full annual personal allowances for the whole of the year when the person died, even though they only received their pension or other income for part of that tax year.
You don't have to wait until the end of the tax year in which the person died to claim any tax repayment that's due or to pay any tax that's outstanding. You can ask us to issue a tax return form for the person who's died straight away.
Claiming back Income Tax
on behalf of someone who has died – learn more
Getting help and advice
The Tax Office that dealt with the deceased's tax affairs will be able to tell you what type of tax return form is required and send you the necessary forms. If you don't know which Tax Office this is, contact the one closest to the deceased's home address.
We recognise that you may need help in dealing with the deceased's
tax affairs, especially if you're personally bereaved. We also recognise
that finding all the records you need can be difficult. We can talk
you through what you need to do over the phone or in a face to face
meeting, either at the Tax Office or at your home, depending on your
circumstances.
Look
up contact details for all Tax Offices
You can call HMRC Trusts Deceased estates helpline on Tel 0131 777 4030, 8:30 am to 5:00 pm Monday to Friday, for specialist advice about the Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax liabilities of deceased estates arising after the date of death.
For help with a Self Assessment return you can call the Self Assessment Helpline on Tel 0845 900 0444. It's open from 8.00 am to 8.00 pm every day, except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day.
Administering a deceased person's affairs can be complex and you might want to get professional advice from a solicitor, a tax adviser or an accountant.
Find a solicitor on the Law Society website
Find a tax adviser at the Chartered Institute of Taxation website
Which tax return to complete
There are several different types of tax return to cover different situations. There are also extra pages - called supplementary pages - available for the tax return to cover certain situations.
The type of return - and any supplementary pages - that you'll use will depend on the deceased's circumstances at the time of their death. The information you'll need to gather to help you complete the tax return will depend on their circumstances too. You'll need to know what they were doing at the time when they died - for example were they:
- self employed (running a business)
- a partner in a business
- a director of a business
- a non-resident landlord
It may be that they weren't any of the above - perhaps they were a pensioner, an employee or unemployed. If that's the case and you have to fill in a return for them, you'll use the return for individuals.
You can find out more about how Self Assessment works, and how to fill out the forms, by following the links below.
Tax returns if you're self-employed or in a partnership
When to complete the tax forms
You should deal with the tax affairs of the deceased as soon as it's
practical. This is because you need to add any tax repayment to the
total of the assets owned by the deceased when they died. Any tax paid
on behalf of the deceased must be deducted from their assets before
you can start distributing them.
If you're asked to complete a tax return, you must send it back by 31
January following the tax year it relates to. Tax return forms issued
after 6 April 2008 must reach the Tax Office by 31 October following
the tax year they relate to.
How to send us the tax return
Because the SA tax return is for someone who has died, you can't submit it to us over the Internet. You'll need to post the completed form to the Tax Office that issued it, or hand it in at your local Tax Office.
What happens next
After you submit the tax return we'll write to you to confirm whether we'll be asking any questions about the return. We'll also issue a statement of account for the deceased showing any tax that's due to be paid or repaid.
Paying the deceased's tax - find out more
Understand your responsibilities in key tax areas as a personal representative
