or inheritance tax clearance certificate?

Tigerlilykiss16

Hi,

I'd like to know how long it currently takes HMRC to issue the clearance cerificate? All monies were collected in at the end of June 2016. The IHT30 would then have been completed and sent to HMRC.

We have been told HMRC had/has 7 month backlog and the solicitor would chase in January 2017. Solicitor chased 23rd January and the clearance certificate still hadn't been issued. A call was made to HMRC who advise they did have a backlog but it was nothing like the 7 months we were advised of. HMRC are currently on a 4 week turnaround.

We have engaged the help of our MP to establish whether it is HMRC or our solicitor who is not telling the truth.

HMRC have another 1.5 weeks to respond to our MP. We have had no update from our solicitor.

8 months seems a very long time to wait for the clearance certificate. Has anyone experienced similar delays?

Thanks

Yorkshireman99

Tigerlilykiss16 wrote: »

Hi,

I'd like to know how long it currently takes HMRC to issue the clearance cerificate? All monies were collected in at the end of June 2016. The IHT30 would then have been completed and sent to HMRC.

We have been told HMRC had/has 7 month backlog and the solicitor would chase in January 2017. Solicitor chased 23rd January and the clearance certificate still hadn't been issued. A call was made to HMRC who advise they did have a backlog but it was nothing like the 7 months we were advised of. HMRC are currently on a 4 week turnaround.

We have engaged the help of our MP to establish whether it is HMRC or our solicitor who is not telling the truth.

HMRC have another 1.5 weeks to respond to our MP. We have had no update from our solicitor.

8 months seems a very long time to wait for the clearance certificate. Has anyone experienced similar delays?

Thanks

It is ourageous but HMR&C are notorious for being a law unto themselves. I have sued them three times though not on an IHT issue. On each occasion profuse apologies and assurances about future service were given. Compensation was paid on all three occasions. As for the solicitor I expect they are just as frustrated by the situation as you are and I see no reason they should be lying. Hopefully your MP will have some success.

Tigerlilykiss16

Hi

Thanks for your response. We've received an acknowledgement from HMRC to our MP and the full response should be with our MP by next Friday. Dependant upon that response will be what we decide to do next. By next Friday we will have been waiting 9 months, which is totally unacceptable.

I'll keep you posted as to progress.

Yorkshireman99

Tigerlilykiss16 wrote: »

Hi

Thanks for your response. We've received an acknowledgement from HMRC to our MP and the full response should be with our MP by next Friday. Dependant upon that response will be what we decide to do next. By next Friday we will have been waiting 9 months, which is totally unacceptable.

I'll keep you posted as to progress.

You Ree welcome. You should press HMR&C for compensation assuming you can quantify your losses. However they will probably be reluctant to compensation for distress or similar. Good luck.

smoker99

Hi, I'm also currently experiencing an interminable delay in obtaining a clearance certificate and wondered if anyone has any recent experience in obtaining one?

All monies were collected, inheritance tax paid and the IHT30 form was submitted by my solicitor over a year ago yet we've had nothing but excuses from HMRC. Lengthy waits on the telephone trying to speak with someone and then vague replies with no definitive answers as to when the matter will be resolved.

I just want to bring this whole sorry saga to a close but I feel like I'm banging my head against a brick wall.

eve1978

Smoker99
I'm in a similar boat. I'm still waiting to know if property values were accepted etc, or even if they have been referred to the district valuer and I have had no communication from HMRC in 8 months having paid the tax in August 2016. What have they said? If they are reviewing the case or raising enquiries it might be the cause of some delay. This is what I was told by helpline staff, but of course no information was forthcoming about what enquiries were being raised. I will just have to wait and worry!

smoker99

eve1978 wrote: »

What have they said? If they are reviewing the case or raising enquiries it might be the cause of some delay.

On no occasion has there been any mention of an enquiry or a review. The only reasons so far offered for the delay have been staffing issues and/or a backlog but the OP seems to discount the latter.

My solicitor has said he has done all he can and yet despite months of calls and enquiries it seems we are still nowhere nearer to reaching a resolution.

As you said, it appears we will just have to wait and worry.

eve1978

There is a complaints procedure I believe and it might be time for you to invoke it. HMRC must realise that these 'estate accounts' represent tragedies for the families involved and these sorts of delays are unconscionable. The other alternative is for your solicitor to specifically request contact with caseworker in charge of your account. As for my case, I think they are rather overstating the delay caused by any enquiries. When I spoke to them in March, 7 months after submitting the return, they made no mention of this, which suggests to me they are taking 7 months+ to even have a first look at returns in any sort of detail.

Yorkshireman99

If you can prove actual loss you can always sue HMR&C. I have done this on three occasions in the last forty years albeit in regard to income tax rather than IHT. The amounts were only hundreds of pounds but the principle was important. Each case was because of complete incompetence and delays. On all thee occasions the Inland Revenue's, as they were then, representative got a real roasting from the judge in the County Court. The most difficult thing was keeping a straight face at their discomfort. Even though I got the Court fee back it would have worth it just to see him squirm.

eddyinfreehold

Hi all. This thread is directly relevant to my experience so I thought I would tell you our position. The estate is complicated so we expected delays, but not this long. There are two parts to the posting, firstly the unusual nature of the Estate and IHT liabilities, and secondly the time taken. Bear with me.

My father died in Feb 2016 leaving a valid will and all his estate to his 3 children equally. He was widowed some 50 years earlier (when IHT or Capital Transfer Tax weren't invented) when his children were minors, and never remarried. His wife's property was considered separately in those days, totted up, and personal Estate Duty was payable on anything over the permitted threshold which was at that time £10,000. Her solicitors declared her personal cash, tangible wealth etc and also the value of a trust of £5000 that would be payable on the death of her mother. The total was less than the threshold of £10,000. Her mother, my grandmother, lived another 30 years after the death of her daughter and all the value of the above trust had been used up long before. Consequently, my mother's estate was unable to realise any of the trust or its income to pass on in 1/3rds to her 3 children. Coming back to the present there are therefore several interpretations of my mother's transferrable £325k allowance to match with my late father's allowance. It is calculated as a percentage of the Estate Duty threshold. Let's say for example my mother declared £1k as cash and £5k as the Trust and her Probate declared £6k. That would leave 40% of the 325k allowable from my mother. However, 5k of the 6k was never realised and we have legal proof of that, the original trust documents and oaths from the surviving non-beneficiaries to say so. We are arguing that my mother's Estate should be revalued at 1k and 90% of the £325k should be permitted. A tricky one which must be just about unique by now unless there are some very old widows of unfortunate members of the armed forces from perhaps Suez, Aden or Biafra.

The second part.... timescales. Valuations of my father's estate were prepared and our solicitor sent IHT 400,402,3,5,7,11,21, and 23 to HMRC with a calculation if IHT due and a cheque to cover that in early September 2016. Acknowledgement was received from HMRC in mid November saying they were looking at the case further but we could apply for Probate. The IHT421 was received with minor corrections in mid December 2016 and Probate was granted at the end of the same month. A cautious partial distribution of the estate has since been made but as there is a huge difference between 40% or 90% of my mother's transferrable allowance, we as executors and in agreement with the solicitor feel it is prudent to hold the rest of the estate in the solicitors client account. We have heard nothing from HMRC since mid December 2016. If the eventual outcome means further IHT is payable, there may be interest due also which would be galling seeing as it is not our delay but HMRCs.

I should say that in all this business the solicitor has been excellent, helpful and very communicative whenever we have made enquiries. I would not have wanted to do any of this without proper professional legal advice.