In the news

i don't know why they're complaining about inheritance tax, they'll be dead.

I think that's more about young farmers dying.

People are obsessed with "providing for their family" in the event of their death by paying down things like mortgages. Whereas the correct way for a young farmer with a family to protect them in the event of their untimely death is though an insurance policy to provide a long term income substitute rather than expecting a newly berived widow with kids to work out how to maintain their previous income.

Yeah and I think also to protect against inflation taking the price of the farmhouse too high maybe? To be honest I'd already formed my opinion so might not have read it properly....🙃

Ah, but you can instantly sell the farm tax free after you have inherited it.

Plus the 7 year rule still applies for gifts etc. So just get rid and live 7 more years to avoid the tax right?

Yeah but you're asking someone to sell their home, business and lifestyle all in one go after a tragedy.

I don't think you've got to be the sort of person who uses the Telegraph as a mastabatory aid to sympathise with that scenario.

Presumably it's the safety of the drivers they're worried about.

you're asking someone to sell their home, business and lifestyle

But you're not? You're asking them to deal with tax only on assets in the estate that values over £1 million (and, as pointed out in the link I provided when the budget first happened, if the farmer is married their partner also has a £1m allowance, so effectively only on assets over £2m in value).

But how are they meant to do that if their only major asset is the estate?

They have 10 years to pay the tax.

Also, this change is merely removing the inheritance tax relief that farmers have enjoyed since 1992. And estates above £1million (or £2million with a partner) only get charged 20% rather than the 40% for everyone else. They are still getting a deal!

There are cases where farm machinery is high value / the farmer is widowed, so a bit of tweaking may be needed.

But farmers are in general not happy, being squeezed by supermarkets, climate chaos and flooding hitting revenues and the replacement of the EU cap payments is far lower in most cases.

So this is a "final straw" issue and perhaps the budget should include some help too for smaller farms?

Sell part of the estate? Take out a loan against the value of the remaining assets (no idea if you can get a "mortgage" as such). And as pointed out you have time to pay it.

Not sure how distinct UK farming is, but the reality is that most of these changes will mostly hit massive farms

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/02/revealed-the-growing-income-gap-between-europes-biggest-and-smallest-farms

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/nov/02/farm-subsidies-wrecked-europe-environments-common-agricultural-policy

if the farmer is married their partner also has a £1m allowance, so effectively only on assets over £2m

I think I've misunderstood it then, so that would apply in the case of one of them dying?

Anyway my point was in relation to what I thought the purpose of insurance was, and then in response to the "just sell it" comment. Not the policy as designed. Which seems fine to me given the high level it is set at.

I think I've misunderstood it then, so that would apply in the case of one of them dying?

Husband dies, either the partner inherits with no inheritance tax at that point (assuming they are married or in a legal partnership), or the asset is passed on to a child, in which case the child can benefit from both parents allowance, as far as I know, but INAL

The relief is only removed for farms valued at over £1million, so smaller farms won't pay any tax

And now, according to the Mail, even sandwich fillings can be woke.

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The woke fillings? Chicken, avocado and olives.

Heads would explode if French mustard was used.

Gen Z? Pretty sure I'm blaming the Boomers and Gen X for getting all euro-fancy with their continental lagers, olives and prawn cocktails...

“Fancy Woke Fillings”

Either a good sex shop or a great sandwich shop name

This article covers some of the issues well. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/nov/19/what-are-inheritance-tax-changes-affecting-uk-farmers

The change in law rolls together two previous allowances (one for land, one for things like machinery) into one. So huge chunks of the new allowance will be taken up by machinery leaving little headroom for the value of the estate. The government's own calculations don't take this into account so the idea that it will only hit massive farms isn't accurate.

BBC Verify article about how many farms are affected:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8rlk0d2vk2o

When the people supporting the farmers (and who all thought that junior doctors, teachers etc should just shut up and put up) include Badenoch, Jenrick, Farage and Tice plus the farming cosplayers like Clarkson (who stated that he bought the farm to avoid inheritance tax), Lowe and Dyson, it seems like many farmers who won’t be affected but have been drawn in are getting well and truly played

This graphs from DEFRA shows very few farms breaking a net worth of 2m, so it really depends if you're looking at the reported figure (1m threshold), or the realistic figure (somewhere north of 2m if you include spousal and property relief)

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/balance-sheet-analysis-and-farming-performance-england/balance-sheet-analysis-and-farming-performance-england-202223-statistics-notice#net-worth

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Farming machinery is very highly priced and usually leased, especially in the big industrial farms.
It’s been blown out of all proportion by right wingers taking every possible shot at the government, egged on by dickheads like Clarkshit.
There are a number of initiatives set up to help British farmers which are being overlooked in the arguments and will probably make small family farms better off.

And there’s this …

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