Axe the Family Farm Tax
In the Autumn Budget, the Chancellor announced that the rate of Agricultural Property Relief (APR) and Business Property Relief (BPR) will be reduced to 50% after the first £1 million on combined agricultural and business from April 2026.
Analysis has found that 102,041 farms in England could be affected – a significant difference from the Treasury’s estimate, that it will affect less than 500 farms a year, which was used to justify the policy.
It means 20% inheritance tax will be charged on estates with business and agricultural assets worth more than £1 million. The government has confirmed that everything from farm tools and vehicles to livestock and fertiliser will be included in the valuation of farms.
The reliefs had ensured that family farms had the confidence to make long-term decisions. They had enabled them to be handed down to future generations for free of charge, so that future generations could carry on producing food and delivering environmental benefits after the death of a farmer.
Without them, it is highly likely that farms will need to be split up and sold. The OBR has warned that it will be more difficult for elderly farmers to get their affairs in order to respond to the measure. It also warned that it is ‘highly uncertain’ whether it will raise the £500 million the Treasury claim it will.
In November 2023, Environment Secretary Steve Reed told the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) that: “we have no intention of changing APR.” In December 2023, he then repeated the same commitment to the National Farmers’ Union (NFU).
He has now said that farmers will have to “learn to do more with less". The new government’s manifesto had also committed to only one change in relation to Inheritance Tax – ‘we will end the use of offshore trusts to avoid inheritance tax..."
With 3,686 of them, Shropshire has the highest number of farm holdings in England per county, forming nearly 20% of enterprises. Ahead of the Budget, Stuart had called on the government to rule out any changes to the reliefs. He warned that doing so could lead to the closure of many family farms, threatening national food security.
Stuart become one of the first MPs to call out the decision after the tax hike was announced, warning that it would pose a serious risk to domestic food security and food prices - with the price for cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, and aubergines estiminated to increase by an additional 10-20 per cent.
The Conservatives delivered a petition with over 215,465 signatures opposing the Family Farm Tax to the Labour Government.
“When Keir Starmer told the National Farmers’ Union that every day brings a ‘new existential risk’ to farmers, we didn’t realise that this was his vision for Britain under his premiership. In one fell swoop, his Chancellor has risked national food security and broken the promises previously made to farmers. With the highest number of farms per county in England, this decision will be disastrous for Shropshire. Unlike this new government, I am proud to back our hard-working farming families. I call upon the new government to rethink its plans. I will fight this family farm tax at every step of the way and I hope that everyone will sign our petition to let the government know our strength of feeling on this cruel policy that is being imposed on us.”
