Farming and Inheritance Tax — 4 Dec 2024 at 16:50

That this House regrets that the Government has undone its promises to farmers, and is seeking to punish them with Inheritance Tax bills of hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of pounds by cutting Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief; further regrets that the Government has provided conflicting information on the number of farms that will be affected, and has not conducted an impact assessment of this approach; notes that figures from the National Farmers’ Union suggest that some three quarters of farms will be affected; further notes that farmers tend to be asset-rich but cash-poor and that figures from the Country Land and Business Association suggest the average arable farm will have to sell 20% of its land to pay the Inheritance Tax bill that this policy will cause; notes that the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers anticipates that this will affect 75,000 owners of farming businesses over a generation; notes also that this land is not guaranteed to be used for food production if sold; and calls on the Government not to impose the cuts to Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief set out in the Budget that will lead to the end of family farming as it has been known for many generations in the UK.

“Our hard work and investment as a family has been wiped away in the stroke of a pen.”

“My 60 year old husband had a bleed on the brain in June and thankfully has made a full recovery but I’ve never seen him so stressed. He doesn’t know what to do”.

“We had to talk about which one of my parents are going to die first, in front of them.”

“destroying people’s lives with this policy. Many of us are worried about the mental state of many within agriculture and are concerned that it may be the final straw for some.”

“thanks farmers for their immense contribution to the UK economy and the nation’s food security; welcomes the Government’s commitment of £5 billion to the farming budget over the next two years, the biggest budget for sustainable food production and nature recovery in UK history; acknowledges that the Government is having to make difficult decisions to protect farms and farmers in the context of the £22 billion fiscal blackhole left by the previous Government; recognises that the Government is seeking to target Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief to make them fairer whilst also fixing the public services that everyone relies on; and notes that under the changes announced in the Budget around three quarters of claims for Agricultural Property Relief, including those that also claim Business Property Relief, are expected to not pay more Inheritance Tax.”

“Of course there are trade-offs. There are a range of pressures on our land, in respect of housing, food, energy and so many other things.

“Some say it could be paused until June…this is a business-breaking issue.”

“There is so much anguish out there for farmers.”

“They aren’t working and there isn’t that crossover just yet… They’re just making it harder to make a living.”

“materially underestimated the true proportion”,

“We have no intention of changing APR.”

“Formerly, the House strictly observed a rule against anticipation”.

“farmers too hard and tax avoiders too lightly.”

“only the largest and most sophisticated farm businesses become subject to IHT”.

“a strange exemption…which is why so many rich people buy agricultural land”.

“For many years government intervention has always dominated the top of my risk register, due to inconsistent policy and its oft re-enforced reputation as a poor payer.”

“Despite all that was thrown at my father over the years, all he ever wanted to do was farm and he LOVED it. Somehow, it was in his blood.”

“All these changes have meant that our already tight margins are non-existent. The next few months are going to be spent calculating if it would be better to just sell up and no longer farm.”

“do to them what Margaret Thatcher did to the miners.”

“an industry we can do without… we don’t need small farmers.”

“What I do want to say is that an individual solar farm is not something which risks national food security”?

“Solar is also a valuable diversification and cost reducing land use for farms-helping to shield exposure to volatile agricultural markets”?

Debate in Parliament |