Farmers Protest Changes to Inheritance Tax Relief

It has now emerged that farmers in the north-east of England and Cumbria have been staging protests over changes to inheritance tax relief, arguing that these changes will complicate the passing of their farms to their children.

The farmers protested outside the Northern Farming Conference in Hexham, Northumberland where Rural Affairs Minister Daniel Zeichner was present. Andrew Moralee who is a farmer from Willington, County Durham said that it will be “very hard” for him to bequeath his land to his son.

The government proposal to introduce a 20 percent inheritance tax on agricultural assets over £1m with £3m possible upper limit has angered farmers. They said this will push young people out of the industry which they said will be detrimental to the rural economy.

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Chancellor Rachel Reeves has supported the reforms saying that it is not ‘possible’ to maintain the existing structure. But the farmers counter that this will only result in ‘buying food that is sub-standard’ that ‘has traveled halfway across the globe’ since they have to sell their land.Liberal Democrat environment spokesman Tim Farron, whose rural Cumbrian seat of Westmorland and Lonsdale includes many small farmers, has also condemned the changes saying that they will ‘break up family farms’ and that ‘the majority of those affected will be small family farms with tiny incomes’.