A group of farmers drove their tractors through the town of Dover in protest of the UK government’s planned reform to Agricultural and Business Property Relief. The changes will result in inherited agricultural assets worth over £1m becoming subject to inheritance tax at a rate of 20%. Previously, such assets were exempt. The 20% rate is half that of the 40% generally applied to estates that surpass the non-agricultural exemption.
Matt Cullen, a beef farmer and protest organiser, argued that the changes would be a “hammer blow” for an industry already struggling. Members of Save British Farming and Fairness for Farmers campaign groups organised the protest, calling on the government to scrap the inheritance tax alongside the carbon tax on fertiliser and to halt “substandard imports”.
Save British Farming founder Liz Webster criticised the government’s budget, accusing it of embarking on a “really nasty culture war”. She suggested that, with the planned tax changes, the government was backing “destruction” of agricultural businesses in order to facilitate a trade deal with the US which would allow the import of chlorinated chicken and hormone-treated beef.
A spokesperson for the government defended the changes, stating that they would affect around 500 estates annually, paying inheritance tax at a lower rate and repaying the liability without interest over ten years. The spokesperson added that the tax reform represented a “fair and balanced approach” which would “fix the public services we all rely on”.
Last week, thousands of people demonstrated in London against the inheritance tax changes. Estimates by the Country Land and Business Association and the National Farmers’ Union have suggested that up to 70,000 farms worth over £1m could be affected. Meanwhile, government research suggested that the average farm earned approximately £45,300 in 2020, according to a survey which omitted farms considered to earn the least
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