Britain’s farmers are being urged to take action and write to their MPs amid fears that the government is planning to scrap vital inheritance tax reliefs, in what rural campaigners are calling a “catastrophic betrayal” of the nation’s food producers.
Speculation is rife that Labour is eyeing up plans to abolish or cap Agricultural Property Relief (APR) and Business Property Relief (BPR), despite repeated assurances from the party over the past year that these reliefs would remain untouched.
APR, crucial to the survival of family farms, ensures that farming can continue after the death of the farmer, while BPR offers similar protections to other family-run businesses. Without these reliefs, many farmers warn they would face crippling tax bills, forcing them to sell off large portions of their land to cover inheritance taxes.
The Country Land and Business Association (CLA), which represents thousands of farmers across the UK, has sounded the alarm, warning that many rural businesses will be “in the firing line” if the government pushes ahead with plans to alter or scrap these reliefs in the upcoming budget.
According to research from the CLA, an average family farm of 215 acres would be forced to sell off 40% of its land to pay inheritance tax without these crucial reliefs. And in a recent poll of over 500 farmers, a staggering 86% said they would likely be forced to sell some or all of their land upon inheritance if the reliefs are removed. Even more concerning, 90% of respondents believe such a move would severely damage the UK’s food production and food security.
CLA President Victoria Vyvyan has issued a rallying cry to farmers, urging them to write to their MPs to demand that the government protect food security and support rural economies by keeping the reliefs intact. “If the government rips the rug from under hard-working farmers by removing these reliefs, it would be a catastrophic betrayal,” she warned.
“Someone inheriting a family farm from their parents might be forced to sell up to 40% of it to pay the inheritance tax bill. If even 5% of farms are forced to sell at their next point of inheritance, we could see 27,000 holdings face going out of business,” Vyvyan added, warning that this could spell the end for many family-run farms and devastate rural communities.
Government figures show that farming is already under immense pressure, with 17% of UK farms failing to make a profit, and 59% earning less than £50,000 last year. The CLA says these financial strains leave farmers with little to no ability to cover inheritance tax from their income.
The National Farmers Union (NFU) has also weighed in, cautioning that scrapping the reliefs could have a profound impact on family farms across the country. Analysis by the NFU suggests that eliminating the reliefs would save the Treasury a relatively small sum of £120 million a year, while the damage to the UK’s farming sector would be far more significant.
With the autumn budget looming on October 30th, farmers are anxiously awaiting the government’s next move, fearing that a decision to scrap inheritance tax reliefs could trigger the decline of many family farms and undermine the nation’s food security. As the battle over Britain’s agricultural future intensifies, the farming community is gearing up for a fight to protect their livelihoods.
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