Fairness for farmers at heart of IHT fight

The government’s latest move in the battle over inheritance tax has rightly angered farmers and farming families.

Summoning industry leaders from across the UK to attend top level talks in London  raised hopes of a Treasury compromise on  plans to impose inheritance tax on farming assets worth more than £1 million from April 2026.

But those hopes were brutally quashed by Treasury minister James Murray who refused to engage with farm leaders from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Clear signal

NFU president Tom Bradshaw has rightly pledged to continue fighting for farmers. But this was the clearest signal yet that the government will not be swayed from its inheritance tax plan for farming.  It might be that the policy is eventually tweaked – but clearly the government wants us to believe that it is here to stay.

In battling on – and rightly so – the NFU has to strike a fine balance. It must ratchet up the pressure without the fight becoming so all-consuming that it overshadows the impact of other government policies on agriculture.

In other words, we must realise that inheritance tax is not the only issue affecting farmers – despite being the most high profile.

Think food security, competition from substandard food imports, the need for supply chain fairness, the slow roll-out of environmental schemes, labour shortages and ongoing low investment in agriculture.

Farming families

It is hard to accept, but we must also prepare for the possibility that the inheritance tax proposals may not be tweaked at all. Some farming families already have plans. But many do not. As when fighting every battle, it pays to have a contingency plan for when things go wrong.

That means considering all possible eventualities, talking to trusted advisers and revising succession plans to take into account the unwelcome situation in which we find ourselves.

It is a hard truth, but succession planning will not resolve the situation for everyone. This means checking in on other family members – especially the older generation and those who are infirm or terminally ill – and reassuring them that they are loved, valued and cherished. And that we are all in this together.

Johann Tasker

Editor