Rachel Reeves won’t spare small farms inheritance tax raid | Politics | News


Rachelย Reeves has stamped on the hopes of farming families that they could be spared a major increase in inheritance tax which it is feared will push farms out of business. Farming minister Dame Angela Eagle hit the airwaves to say the Treasury is not โ€œgoing to moveโ€ despite tens of thousands of people from rural communities taking to the streets to warn of the devastation the tax raid could cause.

Dame Angela said she was โ€œquashingโ€ rumours that the planned tax hike โ€“ due to come into force in April โ€“ would be tweaked to exempt smaller firms.

There were reports the threshold for paying the 20% tax on agricultural estates could be lifted from ยฃ1million to ยฃ5million โ€“ and ยฃ10million for a married couple. This followed warnings farming families would have to sell land, livestock and equipment to pay the inheritance tax bills โ€“ moves which could render their farms unviable.

But when the farming minister was asked by the BBC if she had discussed the issue with the Treasury, Dame Angela said: โ€œWe have been in discussions. The Treasury have made their announcements and they arenโ€™t going to move.โ€

Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice said: โ€œThis Labour Government doesnโ€™t care about British farmers, British food or our countryโ€™s food security. Itโ€™s no surprise that they are pressing on with the family farms tax, which has brought the farming sector to its knees.

โ€œInheritance tax as a whole is little more than a death tax on grieving families. Reform UK would put an end to this form of double taxation on farmers and families altogether.โ€

John Oโ€™Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayersโ€™ Alliance said: โ€œThe fact that Labour ministers are still refusing to back down on the family farms tax shows you how ignorant and out of touch they are.

โ€œTaxing family farms is going to be a hammer blow to British agriculture and to rural communities up and down the country, but they clearly donโ€™t care. If the government listened to the farming community theyโ€™d recognise that they still have time to reverse this policy, and avoid the devastation that it will bring.โ€

In her Farming Today interview, Ms Eagle ruled out changes to the tax plans, saying: โ€œDespite some of the speculation in the Press, there is no likelihood that that will happen. The announcement has been made and the situation will be as it was announced.

โ€œBut remember that three-quarters of estates will continue to pay no inheritance tax at all while the remaining quarter will pay half of the inheritance tax that most people pay. Iโ€™m afraid there arenโ€™t going to be any changes with respect to the announcements that were made previously about inheritance tax in this instance.โ€

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