Nigel Farage in London with hundreds of farmers today

The trouble is, Churchview, you have absolutely no idea what the tax on your estate will be spent on. A vanity project perhaps. I intend to allow the government to get their hands on as little of my money as possible. Preferably none. I have paid plenty of tax over the years and continue to do so, as do many of us despite having retired.

I'm with Churchview on IHT and income tax. I'm not quoting the post from 15:01:14 as it's quite long, but I think it says what I would say. We are not in the SE of England, and our house has not gained anything like as much in value, but even so, our family may have to pay some IHT. So be it.

As for farmers, there are family farms where the older generation hangs on to the farm long after the younger generation is doing almost all the work. If the farm ownership was transferred earlier, and the older owner survived for 7 years, surely there would be no IHT to be paid anyway? Even where there is a liability to the tax, it's at a lower rate than non-farming families would have to pay.

theworriedwell

People have probably paid more in rent than most homeowners spend on upkeep.

Many homeowners pay interest on a long mortgage. Plus costs and fees to purchase. Add upkeep and modernisation. Equity gain is not free.

Barleyfields

The trouble is, Churchview, you have absolutely no idea what the tax on your estate will be spent on. A vanity project perhaps. I intend to allow the government to get their hands on as little of my money as possible. Preferably none. I have paid plenty of tax over the years and continue to do so, as do many of us despite having retired.

This.

I wonder if people realise that their family will have to pay IHT before they can get a grant of probate, or agree to pay interest on the tax due until such time as they have cash from the estate (maybe after selling a house) to pay the bill? With the housing market being slow, that interest (4% above base rate) will quickly mount up.

Barleyfields

I wonder if people realise that their family will have to pay IHT before they can get a grant of probate, or agree to pay interest on the tax due until such time as they have cash from the estate (maybe after selling a house) to pay the bill? With the housing market being slow, that interest (4% above base rate) will quickly mount up.

Exactly this 👏👏👏

Wheniwasyourage

I'm with Churchview on IHT and income tax. I'm not quoting the post from 15:01:14 as it's quite long, but I think it says what I would say. We are not in the SE of England, and our house has not gained anything like as much in value, but even so, our family may have to pay some IHT. So be it.

As for farmers, there are family farms where the older generation hangs on to the farm long after the younger generation is doing almost all the work. If the farm ownership was transferred earlier, and the older owner survived for 7 years, surely there would be no IHT to be paid anyway? Even where there is a liability to the tax, it's at a lower rate than non-farming families would have to pay.

Older farmers cannot transfer the farm to younger family members and escape IHT if they survive for seven years if they continue to live in the farmhouse or draw an income from the farm. The continuing interest in the assets transferred prevents the transfer from being exempt. Many of them have no choice but to continue living on the farm as they don’t have the money to do otherwise.

Barleyfields

The trouble is, Churchview, you have absolutely no idea what the tax on your estate will be spent on. A vanity project perhaps. I intend to allow the government to get their hands on as little of my money as possible. Preferably none. I have paid plenty of tax over the years and continue to do so, as do many of us despite having retired.

We never know exactly what our tax will be spent on but we can only vote for party we hope will spend it wisely. There's a chance my inheritance tax might be spent on the NHS, fire fighters, the arts or education and yes, there's a chance it might be squandered on useless PPE.

It's the risk we all take in order to have a health service when we need it and a 999 to call if our house catches fire.

All my adult life I've happily paid tax with the view that if you want a functioning society you have to pay for it. I don't think I'll feel any differently after I'm dead.

I don’t think you’ll feel anything after you’re dead!

Witzend

I can’t stand Farage, but I’m with him on the farmers issue. IMO it’s nothing but class warfare on the part of Labour - farmers = landowners = undeserving upper crust who need showing who’s boss and clobbering with tax.

well that's a contradiction for a start; we are always being told by farmers that it is the small, family owned farms which are at risk, hardly class warfare, or 'undeserving upper crust' what nonsense.

vegansrock

Farage with his wellies and Barbour pretending to be Mr Rural when everyone knows he is a Londoner with a posh background.

Indeed. It is pitiful how many people think that Farage is a 'man of the people', how many people are fooled by a man holding a pint.

It was obviously intended to attack people who invest in agricultural land to avoid IHT, but it was seriously badly flawed and the government cannot bring themselves to admit that it has had unintended consequences. The rich who invest in farmland to avoid IHT will own it through a company or a family trust, neither of which will ever die. Therefore the family farms are the ones which will be hit.

Barleyfields

The trouble is, Churchview, you have absolutely no idea what the tax on your estate will be spent on. A vanity project perhaps. I intend to allow the government to get their hands on as little of my money as possible. Preferably none. I have paid plenty of tax over the years and continue to do so, as do many of us despite having retired.

Yes, that pesky government might fritter my IHT on paying for n elderly person, such as on GN, to have a hip replaced, where can I object?

Barleyfields

The trouble is, Churchview, you have absolutely no idea what the tax on your estate will be spent on. A vanity project perhaps. I intend to allow the government to get their hands on as little of my money as possible. Preferably none. I have paid plenty of tax over the years and continue to do so, as do many of us despite having retired.

👏👏👏👏👏

I have no option but to pay income tax, nor any choice as to what it’s spent on beyond casting my vote. I refuse to have my estate pay one penny of IHT that I can possibly avoid. People constantly claim that not many estates are subject to IHT, so it can’t be a very big contributor to the cost of hip replacements can it?

Tax the Junk Food, Fast Food, Super Processed Food giants driving obesity which costs the economy nearly £100 billion a year in obesity driven ill health.
Talk to farmers and sort out the inheritance tax so it doesn't bankrupt them and our countryside ends up being sold off to the international hedgefund managers and billionaires that already own every other bit of British assets.

Half a £million plus 60% of whatever is left sounds pretty good to an awful lot of people who will never have so much to pass on, or will never inherit anything close to it.

Inheritance is one of the factors leading to the growth of inequality and the concentration of wealth in the hands of rver fewer people.

Renting is a perfectly valid choice, but why on earth some of you think that renters get away with not paying for the upkeep and maintenance of the property they rent is something of a mystery to me. What on earth do you think they pay rent for?

Of course it sounds good to people who don’t have much to pass on. To those who do, it represents what they have worked and saved for for decades. Of course they could have frittered it all away and have nothing much to leave, but they chose not to. Should they be penalised for that choice?

Barleyfields

Of course it sounds good to people who don’t have much to pass on. To those who do, it represents what they have worked and saved for for decades. Of course they could have frittered it all away and have nothing much to leave, but they chose not to. Should they be penalised for that choice?

My feelings entirely.

This tax was created to nobble the rich; unfortunately, with the price of property. more ordinary people are being sucked in.It is not right or fair.

Boz

Barleyfields

Of course it sounds good to people who don’t have much to pass on. To those who do, it represents what they have worked and saved for for decades. Of course they could have frittered it all away and have nothing much to leave, but they chose not to. Should they be penalised for that choice?

My feelings entirely.

This tax was created to nobble the rich; unfortunately, with the price of property. more ordinary people are being sucked in.It is not right or fair.

It's an anomaly; it was intended to grab money from the landed gentry which resulted in many stately home owners having to diversify and open to the general public, our gain of course. However, because of fiscal drag, more and more ordinary people are pulled into the net.

In the meantime the new breed of extremely wealthy people find ways around it.

HousePlantQueen

Barleyfields

The trouble is, Churchview, you have absolutely no idea what the tax on your estate will be spent on. A vanity project perhaps. I intend to allow the government to get their hands on as little of my money as possible. Preferably none. I have paid plenty of tax over the years and continue to do so, as do many of us despite having retired.

Yes, that pesky government might fritter my IHT on paying for n elderly person, such as on GN, to have a hip replaced, where can I object?

We've no objection to to hip replacements for elderly, where is it said that that is what the government will spend IHT on?

vegansrock

Tax the Junk Food, Fast Food, Super Processed Food giants driving obesity which costs the economy nearly £100 billion a year in obesity driven ill health.
Talk to farmers and sort out the inheritance tax so it doesn't bankrupt them and our countryside ends up being sold off to the international hedgefund managers and billionaires that already own every other bit of British assets.

I agree. While we are at it I would like to see punitive taxes imposed on online gambling companies.

M0nica

Not really. 75% of our agricultural land is owned and farmed by large estates and commercial estate companies, who are not affected by this piece of cock-eyed legislation. www.fwi.co.uk/business/markets-and-trends/land-markets/who-owns-britains-farmland

Much of the land in that article is Forestry, Hill Land in Scotland, Army Ranges and other land that has very limited production use.
A large percentage of the productive land is owned by farmers.

That is not what the source I quoted said.

M0nica

That is not what the source I quoted said.

There is an awful lot of Forest, Hill and Moorland in the top ten

Top 10 biggest UK landowners

Forestry Commission (2.2m acres) A non-ministerial government department responsible for promoting the establishment and management of woodland.
Ministry of Defence (850,174 acres) A ministerial government department, with three-quarters of its land sited in England, where it used for military training.
National Trust and National Trust For Scotland (800,000 acres) Britain’s largest farmer, the National Trust, owns 620,000 acres and has an annual income of £680m, while the National Trust for Scotland has about 180,000 acres. Together, they have more than 1,500 tenants.
The Crown Estate (678,420 acres) The UK sovereign’s public estate, which is neither government property nor part of the monarch’s private estate.
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (332,000 acres) One of the world’s largest wildlife conservation organisations with 222 nature reserves across the UK.
Richard Scott, Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry (280,000 acres) The 10th Duke of Buccleuch, 12th Duke of Queensberry and chief of Clan Scott is a Scottish landholder and peer.
Anders Holch Povlsen (218,364 acres) A Danish entrepreneur and the largest individual private landowner in the UK. He is the sole owner of retail clothing chain Bestseller and has a net worth estimated at about £9.2bn.
The Duke of Atholl’s Trusts (145,000 acres) The Duke of Atholl is a title in the peerage of Scotland that is always held by the head of Clan Murray. It was created by Queen Anne in 1703.
United Utilities (141,000 acres) A water supply company with the majority of its acreage in the north-west of England, notably Merseyside, Lancashire, Cheshire and Cumbria.
Hugh Richard Louis Grosvenor (140,000 acres) The seventh Duke of Westminster is just 31 years old and has an estimated net worth of £10bn.
Private investors
Within this list only one private investor – Anders Holch Povlsen – nudges shoulders with the establishment, UK government, charities and organisations.