IHT407 · IHT408

IHT407: household and personal goods

Last checked 5 October 2026 against HMRC’s forms, guidance and the law · rules version 2026-10-05.1

Schedule IHT407 reports the household and personal goods of the person who died, such as furniture, jewellery, cars, antiques, pictures and collections, at their open market value on the date of death. HMRC's IHT400 Notes describe that as "the realistic selling price for the item" and say it is "not an insurance or replacement value". Only certain items are listed one by one; everything else is added together in box 4, and the box 6 total goes to IHT400 box 55.

What IHT407 covers

Question 34 on form IHT400 asks: "Did the deceased own any household goods or personal possessions?" If the answer is yes, the personal representative (the executor, or the administrator if there is no will) fills in Schedule IHT407. If the deceased owned no such goods, or they have no value, the form asks for an explanation in the "Additional information" boxes instead.

The IHT400 Notes give examples: "furniture, pictures, paintings, china, TV, audio and video equipment, cameras, jewellery, cars, caravans, boats, antiques, stamp collections and so on". The Notes also say that certain awards for gallantry, "such as the Victoria Cross, are excluded from Inheritance Tax".

Two groups of goods are handled differently:

Jointly owned goods do not go on IHT407. The form says: "Do not include details of household or personal goods owned jointly."
Goods the family give to charity after the death stay on IHT407 at full value, and the charity exemption is claimed separately (see "Giving goods to charity: IHT408" below).

How to value goods

The legal test is the price the property "might reasonably be expected to fetch if sold in the open market" at the time of death (Inheritance Tax Act 1984, section 160). For goods, the IHT400 Notes put it in practical terms: "This is the price the item would have been likely to fetch if sold at auction or otherwise advertised publicly."

The Notes say you do not need a professional valuation for ordinary household and personal goods "where you can use publicly available data to estimate the value, for example, to value second hand cars". GOV.UK suggests working out "how much you would have got if you'd sold them", for example by searching for similar items on online marketplaces. The Notes add: "Do not guess at a value, but try to work out an estimate based on the information you have."

For more valuable items, the Notes say: "If you think any item may be worth more than £1,500, or you're not sure, we advise you to get a professional valuation." Whether an item might be worth that much is a judgement for the executor. If you use a valuer, the Notes say to tell them you want "the open market value of the items at the date of death". Valuation fees cannot be deducted from the estate. Values are rounded down to the nearest pound.

Filling in IHT407, box by box

Box 1, jewellery. List "individual items of jewellery valued at £1,500 or more": a description, the open market value at the date of death and, if the item has since been sold, the date of sale and gross sale proceeds.
Box 2, vehicles, boats and aircraft. Cars (including vintage and classic), motorcycles, other vehicles, boats and aircraft: manufacturer, model, year of manufacture or first registration, registration number, condition and mileage, any sale details and the open market value.
Box 3, antiques, works of art or collections. The form's examples are "antique furniture, paintings, sculptures and porcelain, collections of books, stamps, coins, medals and wines". Give a description, any sale details and the open market value.
Box 4, everything else. One total for "all other household and personal goods not already listed in boxes 1, 2 or 3", such as jewellery items worth less than £1,500, furniture and other domestic items. The form says: "You do not need to list these items here."
Box 5, insurance. "Were any of the items included in box 4 individually listed on the deceased's household insurance policy?" If yes, include a copy of the policy and any schedule.
Box 6, total. Add boxes 1, 2, 3 and 4 and copy the total to IHT400 box 55.

Boxes 1 to 3 each say to enclose a copy of any professional valuation. The Notes confirm: "We only want individual values for the assets described in boxes 1 to 3."

Worked example

These figures are hypothetical. Someone dies on 17 January 2026. The executor obtains professional valuations for a ring, a watch and a painting, and estimates the rest from similar items advertised for sale.

IHT407 box	Items	Total
Box 1, jewellery	Diamond ring £2,400; gold wristwatch £1,800	£4,200
Box 2, vehicles	2019 hatchback, 38,000 miles, good condition	£6,500
Box 3, antiques, art, collections	Oil painting £3,000; stamp collection £900	£3,900
Box 4, other goods	Furniture and contents £2,500; other jewellery, each item under £1,500, £350	£2,850
Box 6, to IHT400 box 55	Boxes 1 + 2 + 3 + 4	£17,450

The £350 of smaller jewellery goes in box 4 because no single item reaches £1,500.

Now suppose the children who inherit the contents give furniture worth £600 to a charity shop and all sign Schedule IHT408. The furniture stays in IHT407 box 4, so box 6 is still £17,450. The £600 is claimed as charity exemption at IHT400 box 92, with the shop's receipt as proof, so the chargeable value of the goods falls from £17,450 to £16,850.

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Jointly owned goods

If the deceased owned goods jointly, for example with a spouse or civil partner, the deceased's share goes on Schedule IHT404, not IHT407. IHT404 box 6 covers "other jointly owned assets", including "household and personal goods"; its net total (box 10) goes to IHT400 box 50. The IHT400 Notes ask you to group joint items "in the same categories" and order as IHT407.

For assets other than land, the Notes say each owner's share "will usually correspond to their contribution to the asset", and ask you to explain on IHT404 where it does not. The 10% starting-point discount in the Notes is described only for a share of a house or land.

Items mentioned in the will

Goods left to a particular person in the will are still part of the estate and still go on IHT407 at open market value. IHT400 box 27 asks: "Are you including on this form all assets specifically referred to in the will?", giving "personal possessions, works of art" as examples. If a possession named in the will was given away, sold or disposed of before the death, it goes in IHT400 box 28 instead, and any gift may also need Schedule IHT403.

Goods left in the will to a spouse, civil partner or charity can be exempt. Because household goods sit in column A of the IHT400, the exemption is claimed at box 92. IHT408 says it should not be used for goods that pass to charity under the will itself.

Giving goods to charity: IHT408

Question 35 on the IHT400 asks whether the people who inherit the goods want to give some or all of them to a qualifying charity "and deduct charity exemption from the value of the estate". If so, Schedule IHT408 is used.

Why it exists. Otherwise, the Notes say, the exemption would need an instrument of variation: a legal document by which the beneficiaries change the terms of the will or intestacy (Inheritance Tax Act 1984, section 142). With IHT408, "you will not have to submit a formal Instrument of Variation".
Who signs. "All the people who have inherited the household and personal goods must sign this form."
Proof. For deaths on or after 6 April 2012, proof that the charity received the goods is needed. The Notes say copies of letters showing the charity knows it is to receive, or has received, the goods are enough, or "a copy of the receipt for the goods" from a local charity shop.
Which items. If only some goods are given, the schedule of items lists them, for example "dining table and 4 chairs", or in general terms such as "clothing, kitchen implements, boxes of ornaments". The total goes in IHT400 box 92.

Whether to give anything to charity is for the people who inherited the goods to decide.

Common mistakes

Using insurance or replacement values. Box 5 asks about the insurance policy, but the value to use is the open market value.
Listing jointly owned goods on IHT407 instead of IHT404.
Leaving out items given to someone in the will.
Putting a jewellery item worth £1,500 or more into the box 4 total instead of listing it in box 1.
Taking items given to charity off IHT407 rather than claiming the exemption at box 92.
Deducting valuation fees from the estate.

What happens next

IHT407 goes to HMRC with the IHT400, with copies of any professional valuations and, if box 5 is answered yes, the insurance policy. Tax on column A assets, including box 55, must be paid before the grant of probate. GOV.UK says HMRC's further checks can include checking valuations, and if assets are found to be worth more, HMRC sends new calculations once the values are agreed. Changes found later are reported "once the values are final or 18 months after the person died, whichever is sooner", on corrective account form C4.

Our guide to filling in the IHT400 shows where this schedule fits. For other parts of the estate, see our guides to houses and land on IHT405 and listed stocks and shares on IHT411.

Common questions

How are household goods valued for Inheritance Tax?

At open market value on the date of death: the realistic selling price, not an insurance or replacement value.

Is a professional valuation needed for household goods?

Not for ordinary items where publicly available data gives an estimate. HMRC advises a professional valuation for any item that may be worth more than £1,500, or if you are not sure.

Which items are listed separately on IHT407?

Jewellery items worth £1,500 or more, vehicles, boats and aircraft, and antiques, works of art or collections. Everything else is one total in box 4.

What if the family gives some belongings to charity?

The goods stay on IHT407 at full value, and the charity exemption is claimed at IHT400 box 92 with Schedule IHT408, signed by everyone who inherited the goods, with proof that the charity received them.

Where do jointly owned goods go?

On Schedule IHT404, not IHT407.