Preparing an inheritance-tax return during an inheritance dispute

1. Record who will prepare the return

The Belastingdienst states that an executor appointed in the will files for all heirs. Without an executor, heirs may jointly choose someone, file individually or act partly together. Make the route explicit before several people file from different schedules. Check that the will and actual duties are clear; informally opening the post does not itself make a relative the executor.

Record who collects information, reviews the calculation and forwards correspondence. Request a copy of everything filed on your behalf and keep the receipt. Authority for one act need not cover every subsequent tax step. Specify the powers needed for an adviser handling the return, a request or later objection. Clear roles prevent everyone assuming someone else dealt with the letter.

2. Build a calendar from the year of death

Current guidance gives eight months after death for deaths in 2025 or earlier, and twenty months for deaths in 2026. Follow the date in the filing letter. For the 2026 route, the service describes a one-off reasoned extension in exceptional circumstances, which cannot be requested before May 2027. Do not apply older general eight-month guidance without checking the year of death.

Separately record dates for an assessment, payment and objection. Extending filing is not extending payment and does not generally stop tax interest. Record the actual request and decision. If timely completion is impossible, seek a targeted assessment of the required step; do not wait past a deadline because civil division remains uncertain.

3. Support the valuation of each asset

Tax valuation rules do not always match a later agreed sale price. The service describes bank and savings balances at the date of death. For homes, subject to conditions, the WOZ value for the death year or following year may be chosen. Exceptions include certain alterations to the home. Do not apply one universal valuation rule to every asset.

For each item record the asset, value used, reference date and evidence. Identify a valuation decision, balance statement or other support. If provisional, specify the missing information. A valuation for division may serve a different purpose from tax valuation. Explain unexplained differences between return and estate accounts rather than silently choosing the lowest amount.

4. Do not hide an inheritance dispute in the return

A missing bank statement, disputed loan and uncertain gift are different problems. Tell the adviser which facts are established and contested for each. One heir’s proposal is not automatically an admitted estate debt. Ask how uncertainty should be handled for tax and what explanation is required. Do not invent certainty to conceal a family dispute on paper.

A tax return does not automatically determine civil entitlement to a disputed sum. Identify any separate information or claim step and who handles it. Where a relative withholds documents, an inheritance lawyer can frame that issue while a tax adviser watches filing. Coordinate so missing documents do not fall between instructions and deadlines have an owner.

5. Assess a provisional assessment separately

A provisional assessment may help when inheritance tax is expected but the full return is not ready. The service links limiting tax interest to a timely request: within eight months for deaths in 2025 or earlier, twenty months for deaths in 2026. A low provisional amount can leave interest due on the remainder. Applying does not guarantee that all interest disappears.

Ask what supported estimate is possible and which special circumstances affect it. The service notes limitations of its tool, for example pension imputation or business assets. A provisional assessment also creates a payment date: check the received instructions. Before applying, establish who can pay, from which funds and on what basis. It does not itself solve illiquidity or a blocked bank account.

6. Finalise the return and recognise a different route

Agree who checks the last version, submits it and shares receipt. Before a final assessment, the service describes amending or supplementing the return. Keep the submitted version and reasons for changing an amount. A later-found document must reach the correct handler without an incomplete schedule silently replacing the earlier return.

A disputed final assessment requires a different instruction: objection, generally within six weeks after its date. Do not await family division. The separate tax-law guide covers authority, support and missed deadlines. Have the actual assessment reviewed immediately and allocate deadline monitoring; return preparation does not automatically become an objection assignment.

If a final inheritance tax assessment has arrived and is disputed, follow the separate route for objecting to that assessment. Preparing the tax return is not the same as filing an objection.

7. Fictional example: a home not yet sold

Yara and her brother inherit a home after a death in 2026. They disagree on sale and lack some statements. She thinks filing can wait until sale; he wants an arbitrary value. This fictional example makes no tax calculation or judgment about personal filing duties, mutual rights or an exemption.

The adviser starts with the filing letter, will and valuation evidence, then lists missing information and considers a provisional assessment. The sale dispute stays separate. Tax steps can thus be planned without pretending agreement on division. They agree beforehand who requests statements and checks an assessment received.

8. Checklist for preparing and coordinating the return

Send the complete filing letter with date and attachments at first contact. Identify missing values or data, advisers involved and what was sent. Clear version history prevents heirs unknowingly using different figures. Report an assessment separately so any objection question reaches the right person in time.

Request concrete responsibilities: which tax question is examined, which civil claim remains elsewhere and who watches each date? Agree when calculation and evidence reach you for approval. Tax adviser and lawyer may handle distinct parts; foreign assets, business property or a complex will may require more expertise. Identify this before relying on a broad standard calculation.

• Death date, filing letter, assessments and earlier requests or decisions.
• Will, executor appointment and powers needed for each act.
• Estate overview with valuation evidence and separately marked uncertainties.
• Filed return, receipts and provisional-assessment calculation.
• Missing data, checking and filing arrangements and identified deadline monitor.