Probate & Inheritance Tax

IHT407 Form Explained: How to Fill In the Vehicles Box

Published 8 October 2026 · 5 min read

On the IHT407, every car, motorcycle, boat and aircraft the person owned goes in box 2, one line each: make, model, year, registration, condition and mileage, and its open market value at the date of death. A car owned jointly does not go on this form, and the total of all boxes is copied to box 55 of the IHT400.

The IHT407 is the schedule for household and personal goods. This guide goes through the vehicles box column by column, using HMRC's own form and its guidance notes, and says where each answer comes from.

Need the car's value at the date of death for the form? Get a price for a date of death valuation.

When do you need to fill in an IHT407?

When you are completing the Inheritance Tax account, form IHT400. GOV.UK says you must complete the IHT400 as part of the probate or confirmation process if there is Inheritance Tax to pay, or the estate does not qualify as an "excepted estate", and that the supplementary forms IHT401 to IHT436 support it. The IHT407 is one of those forms: HMRC's wording is "fill in this form to tell us about the deceased's household and personal goods" (IHT407).

Which box does a car go in?

Box 2, "Vehicles, boats and aircraft". HMRC lists what belongs there: cars, "including vintage and classic", motorcycles and other vehicles, boats and aircraft. The other boxes on the form are jewellery (box 1, items worth £1,500 or more), antiques, works of art and collections (box 3), and a single total for everything else (box 4).

The difference matters. HMRC's notes say it only wants individual values for the items in boxes 1 to 3, and everything else can be added together in box 4. Box 2 does not set a minimum value, unlike box 1, so a car is listed on its own line whatever it is worth.

What does each column of box 2 ask for?

Column on the form	What to enter
Manufacturer, Model	As shown on the V5C registration certificate
Year of manufacture or first registration	Either is accepted. For an imported car the two can differ, so say which one you used
Registration number, where appropriate	The number plate. "Where appropriate" covers items such as boats that have none
Condition at the date of death and mileage for cars	The state of the car on that day, and its mileage
If the item has been sold	The date of the sale and the gross sale proceeds
Open market value at date of death	The value in pounds, as set out below

Source: form IHT407 (HMRC 07/18) and the IHT400 notes 2022. Read on 8 October 2026.

Mileage is the one people cannot always find. If nobody noted the reading at the date of death, the nearest record is usually the last MOT: GOV.UK's MOT history service shows a vehicle's mileage for tests from 2005 onwards. The condition column is where a car that was not running, had accident damage or needed work should say so, because it explains a value lower than the usual price for that model. Our guide on open market value for probate explains why condition on the day, not a typical example, is what counts.

Which value do you enter: market value or insurance value?

The open market value at the date of death. HMRC's notes are explicit: use "the open market value at the date of death, not an insurance or replacement value", which is "the realistic selling price for the item", the price it would have been likely to fetch if sold at auction or otherwise advertised publicly (IHT400 notes 2022, page 74). An agreed value on an insurance policy is often higher and does not belong in this column.

You can estimate a value yourself for an ordinary car: the same notes say you do not have to get a professional valuation for ordinary household and personal goods where you can use publicly available data, "for example, to value second hand cars". They add that if any item may be worth more than £1,500, or you are not sure, HMRC advises a professional valuation, and the form asks you to enclose a copy if you have one.

A classic, an import, or a car with problems? Public prices rarely describe those well. We value the car as at the date of death, with the comparable sales and the adjustments for condition and mileage set out in writing, so the figure in box 2 has something behind it.

Get a price for my date of death valuation

Your price is confirmed in writing before any work begins.

What if the car has already been sold?

The form has a column for it. If the car has been sold, you enter the date of the sale and the gross sale proceeds, and you still enter its open market value at the date of death in the last column. They are two different columns, and they can hold two different numbers. Which of them to rely on is covered in the car was sold after the death.

Which cars do not go on the IHT407?

A car owned jointly. The IHT407 says not to include details of household or personal goods owned jointly: they go on form IHT404, "Jointly owned assets". The other exception is a car that is going to charity. If the people inheriting want to donate household and personal goods, they use form IHT408 so that Charity Exemption can be claimed without an instrument of variation, and HMRC's notes say all the items donated this way should also be included on the IHT407.

Where does the total go?

Box 6 on the IHT407 is the total of boxes 1, 2, 3 and 4, and HMRC's instruction on the form is to include that amount in box 55 of the IHT400. A motorcycle follows the same route: our guide to valuing a motorcycle covers it, and the guide on which taxes use a car's value shows where Inheritance Tax sits among the others.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a professional valuation for a car on the IHT407?

Not always. HMRC's guidance says you do not have to get a professional valuation for ordinary household and personal goods where you can use publicly available data, for example to value second hand cars. It advises a professional valuation if you think any item may be worth more than £1,500, or you are not sure.

Where does a jointly owned car go?

Not on the IHT407, which tells you not to include household or personal goods owned jointly. Jointly owned assets go on form IHT404.

Do I enter the insurance value of the car?

No. HMRC says to use the open market value at the date of death, not an insurance or replacement value. It is the realistic selling price: what the car would have been likely to fetch at auction or if advertised publicly.

Filling in the IHT407 for a car?

We value the car at the date of death and set out the comparable sales and the reasoning in a written report you can enclose with the form.