Should farmers have to pay inheritance tax?

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Thousands of British farmers joined a protest in London this week against changes made to inheritance tax in the recent Budget. 

Since the early 1990s, tax reliefs have allowed farmers and agricultural landowners to pass on their farmland and related assets tax-free. The reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief mean that from April 2026, landowners will be subject to a 20 per cent inheritance tax on assets above £1mn.

The government says the tax is intended to target institutional and private landowners who buy farmland seeking to shelter their wealth from taxation. It has claimed that three-quarters of estates would be unaffected.

But the National Farming Union says the tax will affect 66 per cent of farms and will have a knock-on effect on the industry. The UK now produces less than 60 per cent of the food it consumes and the number of UK farms is expected to fall 22 per cent by 2040, according to The Andersons Centre consultancy.

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