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Farmers across the UK are angry and frustrated with changes to inheritance tax that threaten their livelihoods, according to a documentary on BBC One Wales. In March, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that farms valued at more than £1m ($1.38m) would face inheritance tax rates of 20%, with payments made over 10 years from April 2026. But farmers have been left feeling “angry and scared” about their future as they feel that their generations of hard work are being taken away from them.
One fifth-generation Welsh farmer, Jacob Anthony, fears having to sell off parts of his family’s 700-acre hill farm near Bridgend to afford the future tax bill, saying his forefathers would be “turning in their graves”. “I want that opportunity to be able to pass it on to my children in the future and I feel like this government is taking that away from us,” he said. In an article by BBC News, Jacob believes that if inheritance tax had been due when his grandfather died in 2022, “it would have finished the farm as it is”.
The Treasury has said the changes to inheritance tax were necessary as part of a “fair and balanced approach” to fund public services. However, farmers feel that their property is being unfairly targeted and could be a crushing blow to generations of farmers who want nothing more than to pass down their land and businesses to their children. “If farmers have to sell up then it will hurt the entire rural community,” warned Ioan Humphreys, a fifth-generation sheep, beef and poultry farmer from Newtown, Powys. He believes that the tax changes are the latest blow to the industry’s struggling businesses, and “it’s like a melting pot” that is ready to overflow.
Although the government has suggested these changes would affect only 500 estates a year, farmers disagree and hope for better understanding and support. Wales’ Rural Affairs Secretary Huw Irranca-Davies has addressed the confusion over how many farms might be liable. Irranca-Davies said that “more work” was needed to fully understand the likely impact. A revised version of the new farm subsidy scheme is also due to be announced from the Labour-run Welsh government next week.
The outcry has come at a difficult time for the government, which has been trying to reorganise its relationship with the agricultural industry following mass protesting in February by concerned farmers over subsidy changes
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More
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