Jeremy Clarkson reveals real reason he bought farm - it wasn't to avoid inheritance tax

Jeremy Clarkson has shared his 'real' information for buying an Oxfordshire workplace successful 2008 (Image: Getty)

Jeremy Clarkson has lifted the lid connected his existent information for buying a farm, saying helium thought it would beryllium a “better PR communicative if I said I bought it to debar paying tax”.

The antheral down Clarkson’s Farm, Amazon Prime’s runaway deed TV series, defied doctors’ orders to protestation against changes to cultivation inheritance taxation brought by the Labour authorities connected Tuesday, taking to the streets of London alongside thousands of chap farmers.

Clarkson told the Times successful 2021 that avoiding inheritance taxation was “the captious thing” successful his determination to bargain land. He besides wrote successful a station connected the Top Gear website successful 2010: “I person bought a farm. There are galore sensible reasons for this: Land is simply a amended concern than immoderate slope tin offer. The authorities doesn’t get immoderate of my wealth erstwhile I die. And the terms of the nutrient that I turn tin lone spell up.”

Addressing these comments successful a caller interrogation with the Times, the erstwhile Top Gear presenter said: “I ne'er did admit wherefore I truly bought it.

“I wanted to person a sprout - I was precise naive. I conscionable thought it would beryllium a amended PR communicative if I said I bought it to debar paying tax.”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that combined concern and cultivation assets worthy supra £1 cardinal would beryllium taxable to 50% inheritance taxation alleviation astatine an effectual complaint of 20% from April 2025.

It marked a departure from Agricultural Property Relief (APR), a argumentation designed to trim the taxation load faced by farmers to trim the likelihood of selling income sources to screen the costs. Assets worthy little than £1 cardinal inactive won’t person to wage inheritance tax.

Despite vocally opposing the taxation changes, Clarkson told the paper that helium doesn’t privation to beryllium the nationalist look of the movement, saying: “It should beryllium led by farmers.”

He said helium doesn’t see himself to beryllium a husbandman but feels his occupation is to “report connected farming” and radiance a airy connected agrarian poorness successful the industry.

Clarkson owns a workplace and workplace store successful agrarian Oxfordshire (Image: Getty)

“One of the problems we person connected the amusement is we’re not showing the poorness either, due to the fact that evidently connected Diddly Squat, determination isn’t immoderate poverty," helium explained.

“But spot me, determination is implicit poverty. I’m surrounded by farmers. I’m not going retired for meal with James Dyson. It’s radical with 200 acres, 400 acres. Way past Rachel Reeves’ threshold. They are f*****.”

Clarkson was besides asked whether he’d see entering authorities - to which helium replied: “I’d beryllium a unspeakable governmental leader, hopeless.

“I’m a writer astatine heart, I similar throwing rocks astatine radical than having them thrown astatine me.”

He addressed the assemblage astatine the farmers' rally successful London connected Tuesday (Image: Getty)

On Friday, Sir Keir Starmer insisted that his authorities was supportive of farmers and of pensioners arsenic helium faced questions astir the taxation reforms and the determination to bounds wintertime substance payments to lone the poorest pensioners.

The Prime Minister told BBC Bristol: “We’re for moving radical who request to beryllium amended off, who’ve truly struggled implicit caller years.

“We’re for everybody who wants to and needs to trust connected the NHS, which is connected its knees, and we’ve got to prime it up and we volition and get those waiting lists down.

“We’re for the radical who perfectly request determination harmless and unafraid to unrecorded that they tin afford. All of that has to beryllium paid for.

“We are besides for the farmers and the pensioners.”

He besides repeated his presumption that the immense bulk of farms volition beryllium “completely unaffected” by changes to cultivation inheritance tax.