Labour doesn’t understand the impact IHT changes has on farming families

There’s a lot of farmland for sale now. That wasn’t the case before, and farmers are worried.

As a tax adviser working closely with farming families, I am seeing the real-time fallout of policy changes many still don’t fully understand.

The Chancellor argued that Agricultural Property Relief was being exploited as a loophole by wealthy landowners to avoid paying inheritance tax, prompting the announcement that the relief would be withdrawn from April 2026.

Under the new rules, set out by the Government in October, agricultural assets will still benefit from a reduced inheritance tax rate of 20%. However, this will only apply to assets exceeding £1 million – and families will have up to ten years to pay it off.

If you’ve got £1 million in tax to pay, even over 10 years, who has £100,000 a year to hand over? Certainly, farmers don’t get the return on capital to fund that from income so it would require the sale of assets.

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The Government doesn’t understand. They’re just not listening. People hear ‘a million pounds’ and think farmers are wealthy. They’re not. Machinery is expensive – a combine harvester, for example, usually costs upwards of £750,000. That’s what people just don’t understand.

Officials say, ‘It’ll only hit a few people.’ But I can tell you, it will hit practically all of my clients if they die after 5 April. I’ve got lots in their 80s. They’re not all going to survive long enough to see a potential policy reversal under the next government. No chance.

ne of my clients died a couple of weeks ago, and the family told me that just by dying before April, he saved them £4-5 million in inheritance tax.

I genuinely think there’ll be suicides in January and February, from farmers worried about putting their family in debt. In the farming community, everyone is talking about it.

If a farm is handed down with the tax, it means the next generation starts off with a huge debt – just to inherit the farm. I think the public doesn’t understand the real cost of farming. Machinery, maintenance – you need land to make money, and you need machinery to work the land.

Contractors are an option, but you then have to fit into their work plans. You need your own kit. And second-hand machinery is holding its value because no one can afford new.

That disconnect between policy and farming reality is worrying. Tax policy is being imposed on farms that are operating at a loss, without any practical plan for how families are expected to pay the bill.

I just did a set of accounts last week – the farm made a £530,000 loss because of the weather. Crops were flooded and they couldn’t get on the land. No one’s taking that into account.”

Outlining what she believes will happen if the Government doesn’t change its policy, she said: “People will walk away. They’ll get disillusioned and leave. There are loads of solar farm applications. You can’t blame them.

For those in their 50s or 60s, we’re doing what we can – trusts, spouse transfers. But it’s complicated. Not everyone wants to give a million pounds’ worth of land to their spouse. And divorce is its own kind of tax – often worse than inheritance tax.

For the majority of farmers, borrowing isn’t realistic. Farms aren’t making enough to service loans – so many are selling. Our farm used to make good money. Not anymore. The last few years have been rough – mostly due to weather.

My husband and his brother are in their late 50s. Neither wants to take on a £1 million loan at this stage in life to pay their father’s tax bill. That leaves land sales as the only option.”

There are a few things you can do to protect as much land as possible. Make sure both spouses hold £1 million in business or agricultural assets — because transfers between spouses are tax-free. That gives you £2 million protected. You can also set up trusts, though not everyone wants to.

You can pass to children but there will be IHT implications if you don’t survive for seven years. It’s why people pass to spouses: it’s tax-free, and the spouse can also use their £1 million threshold.”

The proposed changes to inheritance tax were discussed on Monday during the Keir Starmer and Donald Trump press conference in Scotland. The US President spoke of his love for farmers, prompting the Prime Minister to insist he was committed to helping the British agricultural sector.

High-profile names such as Jeremy Clarkson have spoken out on the issue – Clarkson even attended the London protests.

He’s actually done a lot of good for farming. But ironically, it’s people like him – those who moved into farming for tax reasons – that the Government was targeting. Still, he’s made it clear he’s fighting for families who’ve farmed for generations.

This change does not simply affect policy, it affects people. Farming families. Real businesses. Real legacies.

If nothing changes? The farms won’t survive. The people won’t survive. And neither will the food security this country depends on.