When someone dies, their personal representatives (the executors or administrators) become responsible for settling the deceased’s income tax and capital gains tax up to the date of death. If HMRC decides a return is needed, it sends a paper Self Assessment return covering 6 April to the date of death, which must reach HMRC by the date in its letter. Income that arises after the death belongs to the estate and is reported separately.

What exactly is the personal representative responsible for?

Section 74 of the Taxes Management Act 1970 makes the executor or administrator liable for the tax chargeable on the deceased, and allows them to pay it out of the deceased’s assets. In practice that creates three separate jobs:

  • the deceased’s own tax for the tax year of death, from 6 April to the date of death;
  • any earlier years that are still open, such as a return never filed or a liability never agreed;
  • the estate’s own income and gains during the administration period, which is treated as a different taxpayer.

This page deals with the first two; GOV.UK treats the estate’s return as a separate return. Inheritance tax is a further obligation; where shares or a business are in the estate, see inheritance tax business relief.

How does HMRC find out about the death and contact the personal representative?

Most deaths reach HMRC through Tell Us Once, the service offered when a death is registered, which notifies HMRC, the Department for Work and Pensions and other departments at the same time. HMRC’s Self Assessment Manual at SAM90010 says Tell Us Once cases are worked within 30 days. Other notifications are picked up for action 30 days after they arrive.

HMRC cannot deal with anyone until it has the personal representative’s name and address. It asks for these on forms P1000(SA) and P1003(SA), or takes them by phone through the Bereavement Helpline. The old form R27 was withdrawn in October 2014. Any authority the deceased had given to an agent ends on death, so an accountant acting for the estate needs a fresh authority signed by the personal representative.

Does HMRC always need a return for the year of death?

No. HMRC first checks whether the deceased met the Self Assessment criteria for the year of death and for any earlier year with a return outstanding. Where there are no Self Assessment criteria, the year is settled through PAYE records without a return, and any repayment goes to the personal representative.

Even where the criteria are met, SAM90010 lets HMRC settle the year of death without a return in some cases by apportioning figures from the last return to the date of death. Examples in the manual include property income, directors’ income, taxable income under £100,000 after apportionment and untaxed interest. HMRC tells the personal representative it intends to do this, and they can ask for a return instead. A return is still required where payments on account had been set for the year.

Where a return is needed, HMRC aims to serve a formal in year return before 6 April, where possible, for the period from 6 April to the date of death. The manual says this is the only return issued for that period, and that it must be addressed to a named person as personal representative to be validly served.

Which income goes on the return to the date of death?

Only income arising up to the date of death is the deceased’s income, even if it is paid later (Trusts, Settlements and Estates Manual, TSEM7252). The detail differs by type of income:

  • Employment. Earnings received after death are assessed on the personal representative as if the employee had received them. GOV.UK says you will usually need the P45 for the year of death.
  • Interest. Only interest paid or credited before death belongs to the deceased. Interest that accrued before death but is credited afterwards is the personal representative’s income and is not apportioned (TSEM7262, following CIR v Henderson’s Executors).
  • Pensions. The provider’s final statement for the year of death, plus confirmation of any State Pension.
  • Benefits in kind. Employers do not have to give P11D details to the personal representative until 6 July after the tax year ends. If the figures cannot be obtained, SAM90010 allows estimates, with the calculation treated as provisional until the actual figures are known. See provisional and estimated figures.
  • Capital gains. Disposals the deceased made before death. Helpsheet HS282 confirms the full annual exempt amount is available in the year of death whatever the date of death, and that losses in that year exceeding gains can be carried back against gains of the three previous tax years, later years first.

Death itself is not a disposal for capital gains tax. HS282 explains that the assets are treated as passing to the personal representatives at their market value on the date of death.

When is the return due and how is it filed?

The return must be on paper. SAM90010 records that since July 2020 third parties cannot file an online return for a deceased person, and the deceased’s online enrolment is removed when HMRC records the death. The personal representative signs the return and enters the capacity in which they sign, for example executor, in box 23 of the SA100.

The deadline is the date in HMRC’s covering letter. Where HMRC issues a fresh notice, section 8 of the Taxes Management Act 1970 sets the normal rule: a paper return is due by 31 October after the end of the tax year, or within three months of the notice if it is given after 31 July. Where a return already issued to the deceased is reissued to the personal representative, SAM90010 allows three months and seven days. HMRC can agree a later filing date if the personal representative has a reasonable excuse, but an extended filing date does not move the payment date.

There is a concession on interest. Under Finance Act 2009 Schedule 53 paragraph 12, cited in SAM90010, where the person dies before the tax falls due and the executors cannot pay before obtaining probate or letters of administration (confirmation in Scotland), late payment interest starts from the later of the normal date and the day after the 30 day period beginning with the grant.

What happens to earlier years and penalties already charged?

HS282 says the personal representative must agree the deceased’s liability where returns were not sent or tax was not agreed before death. That means settling open points on returns already filed, completing returns for earlier years where none was made, and paying what is due. If earlier returns are outstanding, HMRC can still process the year of death, but it will not finalise the deceased’s affairs or release a repayment until those returns arrive.

Where the deceased had been sent a return and died before its filing date, SAM90010 tells officers to cancel late filing penalties imposed for in date years, because HMRC cannot show the deceased received the return. A personal representative who misses the filing date on a return addressed to them can still be charged. To correct a return after filing, see amending a tax return.

How far back can HMRC go after a death?

Section 40 of the Taxes Management Act 1970 shortens HMRC’s time limits for income and gains before death. Any assessment on the personal representative must be made within four years after the end of the tax year in which the person died. Where the deceased, or someone acting for them, carelessly or deliberately caused a loss of tax, HMRC can assess tax years ending not earlier than six years before the death, but still only within that four year window. HMRC’s Compliance Handbook at CH54200 illustrates this: for a death on 19 November 2015, any assessment had to be made by 5 April 2020. These limits are much tighter than those for a living taxpayer, explained in how far back HMRC can go.

What does a straightforward final year look like?

Illustration only. Margaret dies on 10 August 2026 with a State Pension, a private pension, a building society account and one let flat. Her executor gives his details to the Bereavement Helpline and, because of the rental income, HMRC issues a paper return for 6 April 2026 to 10 August 2026.

The executor enters the rental profit for that period, pension income to the date of death from the final statement, and building society interest credited before 10 August. Half yearly interest credited on 31 December 2026 is not Margaret’s income; it belongs to the estate. Rent received by the estate after the death is also outside this return. He signs in box 23 as executor and posts the return so that it reaches HMRC by the date in the covering letter.

What mistakes do personal representatives commonly make?

  • Putting interest or rent received after the death on the deceased’s return.
  • Waiting for probate before giving HMRC the personal representative’s details.
  • Trying to file online, which is no longer possible for a deceased person.
  • Assuming an extended filing date also extends the payment date.
  • Overlooking capital losses in the year of death, which can be carried back three years.
  • Missing a Marriage Allowance claim. SAM90010 notes that since November 2017 a claim can be made where a spouse or civil partner has died and backdated for up to four years if the conditions are met; see Marriage Allowance.

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Reviewed by Christine Anderson, Broker, Solar Protect. Last reviewed 8 October 2026. Part of Accountapedia, the Solar Protect guide to UK tax and accounting. This page is general information, not personalised advice.