MPs call for year-long delay to farm inheritance tax
Government plans to tax inherited agricultural assets worth more than £1m at a rate of 20% – half the usual rate – saw protests across the UK after they were announced in the Autumn Budget.
In a report released on Friday, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Efra) Committee said the changes were made without "adequate consultation, impact assessment or affordability assessment".
The government said its inheritance tax reforms were "vital" and its commitment to farmers was "steadfast".
Efra's report said the tax reforms "threaten to affect the most vulnerable" but delaying the implementation of the policy until April 2027 would give those farmers more time to seek "appropriate professional advice".
National Farmers' Union (NFU) president Tom Bradshaw said a delay "doesn't take the terrible pressure off older farmers".
He said the policy remained "fundamentally unfit, destructive, badly constructed and must be changed".
The government says the changes will only affect the wealthiest 500 farms each year, but the NFU and the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) estimate that up to 70,000 farms could be affected overall.
The committee also warned that the government's sudden closure of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) environmental payments scheme "affected trust in the government" and left many farmers "at risk of becoming unviable".
When the SFI scheme, which more than 50,000 farm businesses are signed up to, was closed in March, the NFU described it as another "shattering blow" to farmers.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has since announced it will allow SFI applications that were in progress within two months of its closure.
But the committee said that lessons should be learned and that "a restoration of trust is urgently required".
Efra committee chairman Alistair Carmichael said the confidence and wellbeing of farmers had been affected negatively.
"The government, however, seems to be dismissing farmers' concerns and ignoring the strength of feeling evidenced in the months of protests that saw tractors converge on Westminster and up and down the country," he added.
The CLA, which represents 28,000 farmers and rural businesses, urged the government to rethink its "current disastrous policy" on inheritance tax.
It said the government should consider an alternative "clawback" scheme, under which 100% agricultural and business property reliefs would remain but inheritance tax would be applied to assets if sold within a certain period of time post-death, payable out of the proceeds of the sale.
CLA president Victoria Vyvyan said the "clawback" proposal would limit the damage to family businesses while targeting "those who have bought land to shelter wealth for short-term gain".
"The government has dug itself into a deep hole by targeting family farms and businesses, and must now pause, listen and consult," she said.
But a government spokesman said that under its changes three quarters of estates would continue to pay no inheritance tax at all, while the remaining quarter would "pay half the inheritance tax that most people pay".
He added that payments could be spread over 10 years, interest-free.
Details of a new SFI scheme will be announced after the upcoming spending review.
Green scheme closure a 'shattering blow' to farms, says union
Farm inheritance tax protesters target Reed conference speech
Tractor protest as minister pledges farmers 'new deal'
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The MSRP has yet to be announced, but I could easily see it starting somewhere in the low $50,000s when it goes on sale this fall, which would make it one of the more affordable luxury EVs on the market today. The charging hurdles the new CLA faces are significant, but with new technology designed to extend the life of the battery, a CLA could survive long enough to see more than enough chargers standing ready to resupply its battery as quickly as it's capable of. If you're OK with waiting about six months, the 400-volt charging issue will be rectified, but if you're still waffling on the EV idea then, by all means, go for the hybrid. I think you'd be doing yourself a disservice, though — this is one seriously good EV. Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox... Read the original article on Jalopnik.
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Inheritance tax plans tormenting farmers, union tells Starmer
The head of Wales' leading farming union has written to the prime minister urging him to make changes to inheritance tax proposals, which he said are leaving older farmers "tormented with continual worry". The UK government has announced plans, beginning in April 2026, to tax inherited agricultural assets worth more than £1m at a rate of 20% - half the usual rate. NFU Cymru President Aled Jones has called on Sir Keir Starmer to "mitigate very many of the human impacts" of the proposals, while also increasing government revenue. The UK government, which previously said its inheritance tax reforms were "vital", has been asked for comment on Mr Jones' appeal. How are the inheritance tax rules changing? Family farm 'turmoil' over inheritance tax - NFU Sleepless nights and anger as farmers protest Mr Jones said he felt "compelled" to write to the prime minister after being contacted by "hundreds of Welsh farming families" he said were impacted by the proposed changes. The UK government has said the changes will only affect the wealthiest 500 farms each year, but Mr Jones said he was concerned that the number of farms impacted "will be far greater than Treasury predictions". Farming unions have estimated that up to 70,000 farmers could be affected overall. Mr Jones said he was particularly concerned about the impact on older farmers, who are "tormented with the continual worry that their passing will create an unmanageable financial burden for their loved ones". "I know that no government would want to place anyone in the difficult and invidious position that many elderly farmers now find themselves in," the letter said. "My view remains that an opportunity still exists for your government to mitigate very many of the human impacts of these policy proposals, whilst meeting the government's aim of raising revenue." The UK government has maintained that, under its changes, three quarters of estates would continue to pay no inheritance tax at all, while the remaining quarter would pay half the inheritance tax that most people pay.
