Ministers urged to reveal impact of inheritance tax on Northern Irish farms

Ministers person been urged to people a Northern Ireland circumstantial interaction appraisal of the Government’s changes to inheritance tax.

Shadow Northern Ireland caput Alex Burghart said farms successful the portion are “different to the remainder of the UK”, leaving them “more exposed” to the changes.

Labour’s changes to cultivation spot alleviation volition spot farmers wage inheritance taxation of 20% connected properties and onshore worthy much than £1 million, with a higher threshold of £3 cardinal for couples passing connected their farms.

Government estimates assertion that three-quarters of farmers volition not beryllium impacted, but the National Farmers Union (NFU) has said plans to bring unneurotic the cultivation taxation interruption with different for concern spot volition gully farmers much into paying it.

Mr Burghart called connected the Government to people a elaborate breakdown of the interaction connected farms successful Northern Ireland.

He told MPs: “The make-up of farming successful Northern Ireland is somewhat antithetic to the remainder of the UK. There is simply a greater density of farms successful sole ownership and cultivation onshore is worthy more, and this means that farms successful Northern Ireland are much exposed to Labour’s household farms tax.

“The farmers I met successful Northern Ireland are profoundly acrophobic astir this and nationally determination is simply a disagreement astir the figures.

“On 1 broadside we person the Government that says not galore farms volition beryllium affected. On the different side, we person the experts who accidental that precise galore farms volition beryllium affected. Transparency volition assistance everyone.

“So, volition the Secretary of State perpetrate to asking the Chancellor to people elaborate Treasury moving of the Budget’s interaction connected farms successful Northern Ireland truthful that autarkic experts tin cheque their figures?”

Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn replied: “To recognize the impact, you person to look astatine the ownership operation of each idiosyncratic workplace and I americium not wholly definite that helium is advocating that the Government should bash that for each of the farms close crossed the country.

“It volition beryllium for farmers themselves to look astatine the arrangements that volition use from 2026 and to instrumentality proposal connected however they tin guarantee that they are capable to proceed to walk their household farms to their children and their grandchildren.”

DUP MP Carla Lockhart said she had attended a rally hosted by the Ulster Farmers Union to reason the tax.

The MP for Upper Bann said: “It was attended by 6,000 farmers, with each governmental enactment successful Northern Ireland lasting unneurotic successful absorption to the change.

“When volition the Government admit that their figures are not reflective of the mean workplace and that this decease taxation volition effect successful the break-up of household farms arsenic we cognize them, successful the selling of onshore to wage the taxation and the purchasing of devalued onshore by large businesses who are not funny successful utilizing it for feeding our nation.”

Mr Benn said: “I recognize that those changes are unwelcome and hard but, fixed the fiscal position, the Government is having to instrumentality hard decisions.”

Liberal Democrat MP for Chichester Jess Brown-Fuller said that income from farming successful Northern Ireland had fallen “amid volatile markets soaring costs and declining output”, arsenic she besides called for a determination interaction assessment.