The Farmers Fight

vegansrock

Many people buy a small holding and just keep a few horses or pets on it and claim it is agricultural land to avoid tax despite it not being productive. Such loopholes should be closed.

There's quite strict rules about whether land is equestrian or agricultural, the two are not necessarily interchangeable but anyone keeping pigs, sheep or cows is entitled to claim the land is being used for agriculture.

I am wondering what will be done to raise inheritance taxes on the real super wealthy as it seems to me that this category has avoided inheritance taxes for generations? I imagine that the super rich have put their farms into trusts and know every trick in the book to avoid inheritance tax.

vegansrock

Many people buy a small holding and just keep a few horses or pets on it and claim it is agricultural land to avoid tax despite it not being productive. Such loopholes should be closed.

What size of farm would you call a small holding? vegansrock?

Fully agree Sarnia

Totally agree Sarnia, trouble is I don’t think Reeves knows what she is doing ! She continually tells us lies sbout her CV so how can we believe that she is an expert in finance

Many people buy a small holding and just keep a few horses or pets on it and claim it is agricultural land to avoid tax despite it not being productive. Such loopholes should be closed.

JanCl

I think it's the Mail and Telegraph that say 70%. Family farms can be worth c£3 million and still not be eligible for IHT. And anything over that IHT is 20%. Non farmers allowance for a couple would be around £650000, and 40% over that. So I can't see how farmers are hard done by. And when the likes of James Dyson buy up land just to avoid tax, something has to be done.

Perhaps you should investigate what Dyson Farming does to improve ecosystems and sustainability before you start criticising?

If you find empty shelves in your supermarket, perhaps you might be affected and realise the effects of all this.

Many love a protest

I don't know if these are farmers or celebrities or members of the public, but alot of solidarity on show in Whitehall today.

Hear hear JanCl

Jeanathome stated that "One third of children in the UK are living in poverty, wrap your heads around that."

Well the quickest and simplest way to start to remedy that would be to get rid of the benefit cap on more than two children in a family. In fact, take the welfare state back to being based on need.
Anytime I have mentioned this just leads to lots of posts saying that these children should not have been born in the first place, if their parents could not absolutely guarantee that their circumstances would never change from being able to afford them.
A few decent labour party MPs voted to repeal at least the cap on children receiving what they need for a decent life. The Labour whip was removed for their trouble.

I think it's the Mail and Telegraph that say 70%. Family farms can be worth c£3 million and still not be eligible for IHT. And anything over that IHT is 20%. Non farmers allowance for a couple would be around £650000, and 40% over that. So I can't see how farmers are hard done by. And when the likes of James Dyson buy up land just to avoid tax, something has to be done.

Stella14

Most farmers won’t be liable for inheritance tax. This is aimed at wealthy landowners who have been buying-up farming land. Many of whom are in the aristocracy. Jeremy Clarkson, multi millionaire is one of the ‘poor souls; who is bleating on about how mean the tax is 🙄 For those rich landowners who will be effected, their inheritance tax has been set at half that of everyone else. Our public services have been smashed to pieces in the last 15 years. Funding our NHS is much more important to me than than the tears of the super rich www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/nov/17/farmers-have-hoarded-land-for-too-long-inheritance-tax-will-bring-new-life-to-rural-britain?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

I still dispute the claim that most farmers won't be liable. Having farmed for 50 years we still have many friends and family farming. They all farm 300+ acres - an average sized farm in Warwickshire - and all will be liable . I would not put myself or them in the "super rich" category - unless "super rich" means rarely being able to afford a good holiday, driving elderly cars and unable to educate our children privately .

Farmers struggle. I'm friends with one. They produce REAL FOOD - what is the agenda of a government that targets farmers? Two-tier Kier will find an excuse to arrest and imprison whoever he wants - terrorism charges are a good one.
As for Rachel Reeves not thinking about hospices etc. - really? This is not a government for the people and gradually people will wake up to their globalist agenda, hopefully before it is too late

Stella14

Most farmers won’t be liable for inheritance tax. This is aimed at wealthy landowners who have been buying-up farming land. Many of whom are in the aristocracy. Jeremy Clarkson, multi millionaire is one of the ‘poor souls; who is bleating on about how mean the tax is 🙄 For those rich landowners who will be effected, their inheritance tax has been set at half that of everyone else. Our public services have been smashed to pieces in the last 15 years. Funding our NHS is much more important to me than than the tears of the super rich www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/nov/17/farmers-have-hoarded-land-for-too-long-inheritance-tax-will-bring-new-life-to-rural-britain?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

One third of children in the UK are living in poverty, wrap your heads around that.

keepingquiet

'I understand the farmers will have to hold over £3 million worth of assets? I find it difficult to feel sorry for someone with that much wealth to be honest.'

Farmers are possibly asset rich but cash poor so someone with that £3 million farm is not rich- he will never actually see that £3m but his heirs will still be expected to find that huge amount of IHT!
I also find the the Labour Party's view of what constitutes 'rich' unrealistic to put it mildly.

Most farmers won’t be liable for inheritance tax. This is aimed at wealthy landowners who have been buying-up farming land. Many of whom are in the aristocracy. Jeremy Clarkson, multi millionaire is one of the ‘poor souls; who is bleating on about how mean the tax is 🙄 For those rich landowners who will be effected, their inheritance tax has been set at half that of everyone else. Our public services have been smashed to pieces in the last 15 years. Funding our NHS is much more important to me than than the tears of the super rich www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/nov/17/farmers-have-hoarded-land-for-too-long-inheritance-tax-will-bring-new-life-to-rural-britain?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Allira

David49

MaizieD

I thin we can predict who will get the lions share of that £5billion.

It won't be the small and medium size farms.

What they don’t say is NON of it is to aid food production, it all goes to encourage birds and butterflies, that is what the population think is important
Food doesn’t matter

Wildlife and the ecosystem are important and small farmers know that.

The larger, industrial food producing factories aka farms have wrecked a lot of the ecosystems which are co-dependent with farming and food production.

Absolutely, Allira 👏

There has to be a balance between environmental issues and food production.

In the post war drive to increase farming productivity I recall the small hedged fields of my home county, Essex, had the hedges ripped out to turn them into larger fields in which large farm machinery could be used more cost effectively, as well as increasing farm acreage.

The result? Essex's light sandy topsoil blew off those huge fields with no hedges to contain it and to act as a windbreak...

I don't know what happened to rectify it, I left just as the light was dawning...

The decisions made in this budget are just the start of it. What next?

David49

MaizieD

I thin we can predict who will get the lions share of that £5billion.

It won't be the small and medium size farms.

What they don’t say is NON of it is to aid food production, it all goes to encourage birds and butterflies, that is what the population think is important
Food doesn’t matter

Wildlife and the ecosystem are important and small farmers know that.

The larger, industrial food producing factories aka farms have wrecked a lot of the ecosystems which are co-dependent with farming and food production.

MaizieD

I thin we can predict who will get the lions share of that £5billion.

It won't be the small and medium size farms.

What they don’t say is NON of it is to aid food production, it all goes to encourage birds and butterflies, that is what the population think is important
Food doesn’t matter

LizzieDrip

From DEFR:

The government will invest …

£5 billion into farming over the next two years – the largest amount ever directed towards sustainable food production, rural economic growth and nature’s recovery in our country’s history

I suppose farmers will be happy to accept a share of £5billion of taxpayers money!

It's how they tell 'em.

Steep cuts in direct payments to farmers in England are probably the price that had to be paid for Defra to be able to maintain the agricultural budget, NFU president Tom Bradshaw has suggested.

The 30 October Budget set agricultural spending by Defra at £2.6bn in 2025 and £2.4bn in 2026 – compared with the current £2.4bn.

It was also announced that delinked payments to farmers (previously the Basic Payment Scheme or BPS) would be cut by 76% compared with the 2020 base level, taking a previous £30,000 payment to just £7,200, with no payments above that level.

I thin we can predict who will get the lions share of that £5billion.

It won't be the small and medium size farms.

From DEFR:

The government will invest …

£5 billion into farming over the next two years – the largest amount ever directed towards sustainable food production, rural economic growth and nature’s recovery in our country’s history

I suppose farmers will be happy to accept a share of £5billion of taxpayers money!