Atkins: ‘Crass’ move on farm inheritance tax makes UK more reliant on imports

The caller shadiness situation caput has said the “crass decision” to region immoderate inheritance taxation alleviation for farms has betrayed the Government’s deficiency of cognition astir the countryside.

Victoria Atkins said the determination had “consigned household farms and businesses to being sold disconnected and divided up arsenic families cannot spend monolithic taxation bills”.

Under plans announced successful the Budget, inheritance taxation volition beryllium charged astatine 20% connected cultivation assets supra £1 million, though Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said that successful immoderate cases the threshold could successful signifier beryllium astir £3 million.

While the 20% fig inactive represents a alleviation of 50% compared to the modular rate, farming unions and absorption parties person criticised the move, arguing that it volition marque British farms uncompetitive.

Writing successful the Telegraph newspaper, Ms Atkins said: “This is simply a superior mistake that Labour has made successful their Budget. Their deficiency of knowing of the realities of farming was revealed successful the crass determination to slash years of cautious taxation argumentation to support household farms intact and protected from inheritance tax.”

She suggested the determination would marque the UK much reliant connected imports, adding: “If farmers person to acceptable speech wealth for a imaginable taxation raid alternatively than investing successful the farm, it volition nary uncertainty interaction nutrient production, summation prices and marque British farmers little competitive.”

Ms Reeves has defended her projected reforms to inheritance taxation connected farms by claiming it is not “affordable” to support the existent system.

The Chancellor utilized her archetypal Budget to denote a alteration to cultivation spot alleviation (APR) and concern spot alleviation (BPR) from April 2026 successful a bid to unafraid much wealth for nationalist services.

Budget documents authorities the Government wants to restrict the “generosity” of APR and BPR for the “wealthiest estates”.

The archetypal £1 cardinal of combined concern and cultivation assets volition proceed to pull nary inheritance tax.

But for assets implicit £1 million, inheritance taxation volition use with 50% relief, astatine an effectual complaint of 20%.

The Chancellor said “only a precise tiny fig of cultivation properties” volition beryllium affected, though the National Farmers’ Union warned the reforms could force farmers to merchantability their household farms to wage the inheritance taxation bill.

Ms Reeves said galore “difficult decisions” were needed successful the Budget successful bid to hole nationalist services and spot the system connected a firmer footing.