IHTM43014 - Dealing with a claim: action in Compliance Group

If a case with transferable nil rate band (TNRB) is referred to Compliance and the claim for TNRB has not been accepted by Risk, it should be investigated as part of an enquiry. This will be particularly relevant where, on the first death, relievable property was left to chargeable beneficiaries. In these cases we will need to investigate the extent to which the relief was due to quantify the amount of the nil rate band that was unused. You should always try to obtain our file for the first death, if one still exists.  

You should investigate the position at the first death following current procedures, but you should always bear in mind that where the first death was many years ago, the information available may be very limited, see the examples at IHTM43011. Where this is the case and it is not possible to establish the real position, you should discuss the matter with the taxpayer to try and arrive at a mutually acceptable conclusion.

The position is different where the first death is on or after 9 October 2007. Here, our published guidance (IHTM43012) sets out the documents and information we expect taxpayers to keep. If they have not supplied them, you should ask the taxpayer for the relevant documents to support their claim. Any case where nothing or inadequate documentation has been kept by the taxpayer should be referred to your manager to consider the extent to which the claim should be admitted.