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
Tax returns for personal representatives
When someone dies, the person responsible for settling the deceased's financial affairs and for administering their estate is known as the executor or administrator. The term personal representative is used to cover both roles of executor and administrator.
As the personal representative you'll need to settle the deceased's tax affairs up to the date of death, and pay any tax due on income arising or gains made during the administration of the deceased's estate.
Most administration period tax liabilities are relatively straightforward and can be dealt with by the deceased's local Tax Office (see 'Getting help and advice' below for contact details) by making an informal payment without having to fill out a Self Assessment tax return.
On this page:
- Tax forms you may need to complete
- Finding and keeping records
- When to complete the tax return
- Getting help and advice
- Useful links
Tax forms you may need to complete
If you do need to fill out a Self Assessment tax return, or any other forms, we'll send you the forms you need to complete when you contact us.
Form R27
When you've told us that you're the personal representative of someone who has died we'll send you form R27 Finalising Liability to Date of Death so that we can finalise the tax position up to the date of death. You'll need to fill in all or part of this form depending on the circumstances of the person who has died. Form R27 consists of four pages:
- Page 1 asks for details of the will, probate, letters of administration and confirmation. You must complete this in every case.
- Page 2 asks for details of income and allowances. You must complete this page in every case unless you've already sent us a completed tax return or form R40, or you want to complete one now. If you want to complete one now, make sure that you tick the boxes at the top of page 2 and we'll send you the forms that you need.
- Page 3 is used to make a claim for a tax repayment. You must complete this page in every case unless you've already sent us a tax return or form R40.
- Page 4 asks for the bank or building society details of the person who'll receive any repayment that's due. You can also give authority for the payment to be made to another person. You should provide these details if you're the person who'll receive any repayment and you want to have the repayment made directly to your account. Or if you want to nominate someone else to receive the payment you should provide their account details. Page 4 also includes a declaration that the personal representative must sign in every case.
Read form R27 Finalising Liability to Date of Death - includes help notes
Self Assessment tax return
If the deceased has submitted tax returns in recent years it's likely that you'll need to fill in a tax return rather than page 2 of form R27. The information that you'll need to provide is similar to that for form R27 but also includes:
- capital gains
- outstanding student loans
- payments qualifying for tax relief
In certain circumstances you may have to fill in a tax return even if the deceased didn't submit returns previously. We'll let you know if you need to do this after you've sent us a completed form R27.
Completing a tax return on behalf of someone who has died - get further guidance
Trust and Estate tax return
As the personal representative you're responsible for reporting any income, gains or losses that arise during the administration period - the period from death until the deceased's estate is fully dealt with. If we send you a Trust and Estate tax return, you should include details of income received and chargeable disposals made by the estate.
Completing the Trust and Estate return following a death - learn more
Form R40
The deceased may be due a refund to the date of death. To claim a tax refund you'll need to complete form R40 Claim for Repayment which you can download from the HMRC website or order from the Forms Helpline on Tel 0845 900 0404. You can fill this in now or later on when you know that a repayment is definitely due.
Go to form R40 Claim for Repayment and form R40 help notes
Finding and keeping records
You may also want to check what records you'll need to find and keep to deal with the deceased's and the estate's tax affairs.
Tax records needed when someone dies
When to complete the tax return
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.
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.
Getting help and advice
It's important that you contact the Tax Office that dealt with the deceased's affairs as soon as possible after their death. You may find the contact details for this Tax Office among the deceased's papers. If you can't find them, contact the Tax Office that's nearest to the deceased's home address.
We recognize 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
Useful links
Find out more about tax when someone dies
Understand the responsibilities of personal representatives
