Petition to stop inheritance tax changes reaches over 125k signatures in two days
4th November 2024
More than 125,000 people signed a petition to stop the government’s changes to inheritance tax relief on farm property that were announced during Autumn Budget last week.
As part of the Budget, the government has announced significant changes to the inheritance tax for UK farms.
From April 2026, the first £1 million of combined business and agricultural assets will continue to attract no inheritance tax at all, but for assets over £1 million, inheritance tax will apply with 50% relief, at an effective rate of 20%.
At the end of last week, the NFU launched a petition to stop the changes from happening. The online document has already been signed by more than 125,000 people in just two days.
The union said: “You will have seen and heard farmers and growers across the country angry and concerned for the future after the Chancellor’s Budget on October 30 announced changes to Agricultural Property Relief (APR) and Business Property Relief (BPR).
“Let’s be clear, if this tax change goes ahead, it will deal 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.”
READ MORE: NFU meets with Defra and Treasury to discuss miscalculation of Inheritance Tax impact
READ MORE: Chancellor announces “hammer blow” reforms to agricultural property relief
READ MORE: Farmers may face ‘one obstacle too many’ following Ag Budget announcement
Consequences of Budget changes
NFU added that the changes to inheritance tax relief have the potential to reduce UK food production and alongside the increases in employment costs, the cost of food production may rise, with many people still facing a cost-of-living crisis.
“The chancellor says the £1 million cap will protect small family farms. It won’t.
“Put simply, many family farms will be impacted because while lots of smallholdings and houses with a few acres let for grazing might be okay, very few viable farms would be worth under £1 million.
“Farmers are often cash poor even if on paper their farms are valuable when sold.”
Sign the petition here.
According to the government’s legislation, if a petition gets 100,000 signatures, it will be considered for debate in Parliament.
READ MORE: Steve Reed claims small family farmers “won’t be affected” by IHT changes
Conservative’s petition
The Conservatives have also launched a petition to show dissatisfaction with changes to inheritance tax for farm property.
They said: “Labour have broken their promise to British farmers with the Family Farm Tax.”
The petition will be presented to the Labour Party by Christmas. Sign it here.
Steadfast commitment to farmers
A government spokesperson said that the government’s commitment to British farmers “remains steadfast”.
They added: “It’s why we have committed £5 billion to the farming budget over two years – more money than ever for sustainable food production.
“We understand concerns about changes to Agricultural Property Relief and the Defra Secretary of State and Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury met with NFU president Tom Bradshaw today.
“Ministers made clear that the vast majority of those claiming relief will not be affected by these changes. They will be able to pass the family farm down to their children just as previous generations have always done.
“This is a fair and balanced approach that protects the family farm while also fixing the public services that we all rely on. We remain committed to working with the NFU and listening to farmers.”
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