Inheritance tax receipts have risen again as experts are warning Brits to better plan for the passing on of wealth, after the Autumn Budget changes.

Fresh figures released this morning show inheritance tax receipts for between April and October of this year are £5bn, which is £500m higher than the same period last year.

This comes after sweeping changes were made to inheritance tax by the government in the Autumn Budget. Inheritance tax is applied at a flat rate of 40 per cent on estates worth over £325,000.

New rules included changes to inherited pension pots, which will be subjected to inheritance tax from April 2027, as well as a cap on relief on the inheritance of agricultural land and family businesses, both of which can be passed on tax free under current rules.

The tax relief available on inherited AIM shares was also set at 50 per cent “in all circumstances”.

The Chancellor also confirmed that she was extending the freeze on thresholds until 2030. The threshold freeze was due to expire in 2028.

This week, more than 10,000 farmers took to Westminster to protest against the changes, which many claimed would decimate the sector.

“More tax is likely to stifle growth further”

Following this morning’s figures, Alex Davies, chief executive and founder of Wealth Club said the tax “was already an absolute cash cow” but the “extreme changes announced in last month’s Budget which badly affect farmers, business owners, pension policyholders and investors, mean these figures are only going to increase over the coming years.”

We believe all the changes to inheritance tax made in the Budget are extremely short sighted”, citing concerns about the tax burden and low levels of growth, saying “more tax is likely to stifle growth further.”

Davies added that the changes “have given those affected no time to plan. It’s very much a case of “one day, that’s your money, the next day, it’s not”.

The changes to inheritance tax in the Budget have also led to criticism from business leaders.

Industry leaders warned there will be an influx of for-sale signs on UK businesses, with food and farming sectors particularly concerned.

One of the most prominent critics was Sir James Dyson, who branded Reeves’ first Budget “ignorant” and “spiteful” as he accused her of “killing off family businesses, individual aspiration and economic growth”.

Entrepreneur Ranjit Singh Boparan, whose empire ranges from Bernard Matthews to Carluccio’s, has warned the Autumn Budget is a “disaster for business” and will “deliver a final fatal blow to the thousands of small family-owned farms”.

Meanwhile, the changes were branded an ‘existential threat’ to the future of seventh-generation pub and brewing giant, Manchester-based JW Lees. Its owner William Lees-Jones warned he is now “facing the very real prospect that we will never be able to hand on the running of my business to our children”.