Britain’s farmers and growers will take part in a mass lobby of their MPs to highlight the impact of the recent Budget on their farms, with changes to Agricultural Property Relief (APR) and Business Property Relief (BPR) dealing a hammer blow to farming families.
After decades of tightening margins, record inflation, extreme weather and increased production costs, many farmers and growers are at breaking point, unable to absorb any more cost burden.
Under the new rules, the first £1m will remain IHT-exempt, but assets beyond that threshold will be subject to a 20% effective tax rate, benefiting from a 50% relief.
The NFU has also warned that the changes announced in the Budget could increase food costs to consumers, adding pressure to many still experiencing the cost-of-living crisis.
NFU President Tom Bradshaw said: “Farmers and growers have been left reeling from the changes announced in the budget which demonstrate a fundamental lack of understanding of how the British farming sector is shaped and managed.
“The current plans to change APR and BPR need to be overturned and fast.”
The NFU is organising a rally which will take place on Tuesday, November 19, at Church House conference centre at Westminster, to rally against the governments agricultural policies.
Mr Bradshaw added: “Farmers are rightly angry and concerned about their future and the future of their family farms, having been reassured by minsters in the lead up to the Budget that APR and BPR changes were not on the table.
“There’s still time for the government to accept they’ve got this wrong, and my message to ministers is that they should do the right thing and reverse this awful family farm tax.”
According to the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), the APR reform could pull about 70,000 UK farm businesses into paying IHT, risking the future of many multigenerational farms and businesses that are central to rural economies and communities.
The CLA has launched a campaign aimed at defending family farms and rural businesses from the Budget changes.
CLA president Victoria Vyvyan said: “Labour has made repeated assurances over the last 12 months that it would not tamper with inheritance tax reliefs, and its decision to now rip the rug from under farmers is nothing short of betrayal.”
