The inheritance tax opinion gap

Reacting to

Over half of UK want inheritance tax scrapped (Professional Adviser, 5 October 2026)

Clients sometimes tell their accountant that inheritance tax is unfair and should be scrapped. A new poll finds that 56% of the British public hold that view. The same poll finds that 15% have taken, or intend to take, advice on inheritance tax.

What the poll found

YouGov polling commissioned by the law firm Kingsley Napley, reported by Professional Adviser on 5 October 2026, put four figures on the record.

56%

support abolishing inheritance tax completely, up from 54% a year earlier and 49% two years earlier.

71%

oppose raising the 40% rate, down from 76% the year before.

65%

support raising the £325,000 threshold at which the tax becomes payable, down from 67%.

78%

have not sought, or have decided against seeking, advice on inheritance tax. 15% have done so or intend to.

YouGov for Kingsley Napley, as reported by Professional Adviser, 5 October 2026

Under current law the nil-rate band is £325,000 and the residence nil-rate band an additional £175,000 where a home passes to children or grandchildren, both frozen until 5 April 2031 (Overview of tax legislation and rates, Budget 2025, gov.uk). The rate above those bands is 40%. Gifts made more than seven years before death fall outside the estate entirely (gov.uk, Inheritance Tax: gifts). The poll does not change any of these rules. What the poll measured is the 56% who want the tax gone and the 78% who have not asked anyone what it means for their own estate.

Where the estate figures sit in the file

An accountant works from the figures for each client. A firm preparing a client's Self Assessment return can see the dividend income, the rental income and the interest that an estate throws off each year. A firm preparing a set of accounts can see retained profits, a director's loan account, and goodwill sitting on a balance sheet from a purchase years ago. A capital gains computation on a sold property shows what has just moved into cash. Every one of those is the ordinary content of a return the firm has already prepared, year after year, for the client in front of it, without needing anything from Companies House.

Comparing the estate value with £500,000, the combined nil-rate band and residence nil-rate band for one person, or £1 million where both bands transfer between spouses or civil partners, shows whether the client is inside the charge. The comparison uses figures already on file.

Papers and a report being reviewed at a desk

A worked example

This example uses a made-up person and made-up figures.

A retired company director, 71, widowed, has had their personal tax return prepared by the same firm for the past twelve years. The estate is a home worth £420,000, an ISA and dealing account worth £190,000, and £70,000 in savings accounts: £680,000 in total. As a single person, the available bands are the £325,000 nil-rate band plus the £175,000 residence nil-rate band, £500,000 together. £180,000 of the estate sits above that, taxed at 40%, for a bill of £72,000.

The retired director's estate

Made-up person and made-up figures

Home£420,000

ISA and dealing account£190,000

Savings accounts£70,000

Nil-rate band plus residence nil-rate band£500,000

Taxable estate at 40%£72,000

This client has said, more than once at the return meeting, that inheritance tax should be scrapped. On the Kingsley Napley figures, that puts them among the 56% who want it abolished and, on present evidence, among the 78% who have not sought advice on it either. The £72,000 does not depend on which side of that argument the client takes. A gift made seven years or more before death, a change to how the ISA is held, or a conversation about the residence nil-rate band's own conditions could each move that number, but only if someone raises it while the client is well enough to act.

Accountancy work

Seeing that an estate sits above the nil-rate bands, from figures already in the return and the accounts, and asking whether the client has had a conversation with anyone about it.

Regulated advice

Setting out the gifting, trust or pension options that could reduce the bill, and what each one costs the client to give up, sits with the Equity & General financial planner.

The division between the two is set out in full in who does what.

Two checks to run this week

Add up the estate for clients already near the threshold. For anyone whose return or accounts show assets approaching £500,000 as a single person, or £1 million as a couple, the sum is a few lines of arithmetic from figures already on file.
Ask one direct question at the next meeting. “Has anyone gone through what that figure means for your estate?” asks whether a conversation has happened. The question does not recommend any product or action.

What is not yet settled

Professional Adviser's report did not give the YouGov poll's sample size or fieldwork dates; cite the percentages as Kingsley Napley's commissioned research, and ask for the full data before using them in anything client-facing. Separately, the Autumn Budget has not yet confirmed whether the £325,000 threshold or the 40% rate will change. The bands are frozen in law until 5 April 2031, but a Budget can amend that freeze, and nothing announced so far does.

Common questions

What exactly did the YouGov poll for Kingsley Napley find?

YouGov polling commissioned by Kingsley Napley, reported by Professional Adviser on 5 October 2026, found 56% of the British public support abolishing inheritance tax completely, up from 54% a year earlier and 49% two years earlier. 71% opposed raising the 40% rate, down from 76% the year before, and 65% supported raising the £325,000 threshold at which it becomes payable, down slightly from 67%. The same poll found 78% had not sought, or had decided against seeking, advice on inheritance tax, with only 15% having done so or intending to.

Can an accountancy firm give inheritance tax advice itself?

No. Recommending how to reduce an inheritance tax bill, such as a gift, a trust or a pension withdrawal strategy, is a regulated activity and sits outside what an accountancy practice can do without FCA permissions. What the firm preparing the return can do is notice where an estate sits against the nil-rate band and residence nil-rate band, and ask whether the client has had a conversation about it with anyone. Seeing the number is accountancy work. Recommending what to do about it is regulated advice, and sits with the Equity & General financial planner.

How does an accountant know a client is near the inheritance tax threshold without asking directly?

The figures are already in the file. A Self Assessment return shows the investment and property income an estate is likely to hold. A set of accounts shows retained profits, director's loan balances and the value built up in a company. A capital gains computation on a property sale shows what has moved into cash. None of this needs Companies House or a filter run over a list: it is the ordinary content of the return and the accounts the firm has prepared, in most cases, for years.

What if the client thinks inheritance tax should be scrapped and will not engage?

That view and a £72,000 bill are not in conflict; a client can hold the first and still need to know about the second. The Kingsley Napley poll found 71% opposed raising the 40% rate and 65% supported raising the threshold, so the policy argument has an audience. Raising it separates the policy opinion from the client’s own position: the law stands at a 40% rate above £325,000 plus £175,000 whatever a poll finds, and a conversation with the Equity & General financial planner is about that law.

Where does this fit against the wider gap in who takes financial advice?

The FCA's Financial Lives 2024 survey found 8.6% of UK adults, and 13% of self-employed adults, had taken regulated financial advice in the previous twelve months. The Kingsley Napley figures show the same pattern for one tax: 78% have not sought advice on inheritance tax. An estate above the nil-rate bands is a specific, calculable number. Inheritance tax is often where that number is easiest to show a client in pounds, because the £325,000 threshold and the 40% rate are both fixed in law.