A farmer from North Yorkshire whose family has worked on the land since 1928 has told Good Morning Britain that they will “really struggle” to cope with Labour’s changes to agricultural inheritance tax.
Rebecca Wilson told Susanna Reid and Richard Madeley that she could be forced to sell part of the farm if the Government’s plans to limit the existing 100% relief for farms to only the first £1 million of combined agricultural and business property go ahead.
It comes ahead of protests co-ordinated by the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) in Westminster today, urging Chancellor Rachel Reeves to scrap the plans.
Rebecca said: “Our profitability on the farm has been struggling for many years now. We’re really constrained by things like supply chain and ultimately we’re price takers so the market decides what we get for our products.
“It doesn’t cover costs of production, particularly in recent years with really high input costs. And ultimately, we don’t mind paying tax, but if we don’t have the cash flow in our business relative to the size of assets, we’re really going to struggle.”
Richard noted that nobody could accuse her of “buying the farm as a tax dodge”, a criticism that has been levelled at some protesting farmers, as the land was “in the family and the blood”.
He also asked if, in the worst case scenario, Rebecca’s parent’s passed away this year, she would straight away have to put the farm on the market.
She replied: “We do not have the cash in our business to pay, for us, nearly a £1 million tax bill. I appreciate that we are being allowed to pay it over 10 years but there is interest on that and we simply do not have the money there to pay it.
“The only option for us would be to sell a portion of the farm which again puts the financial viability at risk.”
The NFU is holding a mass lobby of MPs in London today, with 1,800 of its members expected to show up in support. Backbenchers are being urged to stand up to the government’s plans to impose inheritance tax on farms worth more than £1 million which were previously exempt.
Thousands more are planning to join a separate rally in Whitehall in protest against last month’s budget, which means landowners with farms worth over £1 million will pay a 20% tax rate.
Celebrities including Jeremy Clarkson, who told The Times that avoiding inheritance tax was a major motivation for buying farmland, are expected to join the rally.
