Hi Bear, thank you it is what I have been saying to family and friends. We own and live on I suppose a smallish farm, 100 acres plus 100 acres off ground. We let it out to local farmers and live in the farmhouse with family all around in converted barns. Our son did not want to farm, so we are waiting for the next generation to see if one of 3 boys or 2 girls will want to take it on. I think it is only fair that there should be Inheritance tax on the large scale farms , as other businesses have to pay theirs. A farms land cannot be picked up and moved like many other types of businesses can, therefore more limiting. So I suppose I sit on the fence seeing both sides. I see the value of tractors and machinery has gone up enormously, and the makers ie Lord Bamford, JCB, instead of paying £500,000,000 to HMRC, doing a bunk to Cyprus or wherever he has gone to! How does he make that much and why are the government not going after him and many others who owe HMRC big time? I have heard that he and his wife let an ex prime minister live free of charge in a spare house they owned worth several millions, can't we take that and sell it off and maybe a few others as well? That would cover the interest on the debt. I agree Brexit and the dreadful trade deal are responsible for farmers not being able to make worthwhile living / profits, and I hope that farming friends don't get too carried away with all the hype being banded around by those who have hung to or bought land as an investment, Dyson, Clarkson plus Mogg and many more! I say well done to close the loophole.
Huge thanks for this article, Bear. You are the only person I have seen who has spoken the truth. As a rural, very much countryside dweller pretty much all of my life, with farming neighbours (mainly tenant farmers, but one exception), I have seen first hand the damage that Brexit has done to agriculture, and that nonsensical deal with Australia and New Zealand has made livestock farmers literally take their own lives. This is not the way to treat people who grow our food. We need to be robust about agriculture, sort out the "tax avoidance" merchants and treat them like the vermin they are whilst at the same time, supporting proper farmers and thus securing our food production. Thank you again.
I think that Reeves could have anticipated this and lanced the boil by announcing government backed loans to aquire farmland for those who are currently tenants or own small farms - like the old local authority mortgages - starting from (let's say) 2027, plus a much higher sliding scale of IHT on the very largest holdings (which, as we all know, are used primarily as a IHT avoidance mechanism) so that the land held in them makes its way back to the market by the date the "farm mortgages" flow into the system. Quite difficult to frame that as an attack on small farmers - though agree that Brexit and the "trade deals" entered into purely to grab headlines are the real villains here.
And what the hell business is it of the grotesque Musk to be commenting on British farming in this way? Do British 'tech bros' comment on U.S. of A. farming policies like this? I don't think so. I think Musk needs to be taught to stopper his great gob.
The comments highlight the key issue facing the handing down of farms in the UK. That key issue is not inheritance tax, but the fact that young people who want to become farmers are not necessarily the children of farmers. There needs to be a mechanism for those who wish to run a small family farm to be able to buy it at a realistic price (for both parties) from those who do not wish to carry on their parents' business - whereas at present such farms (depending on location ) get sold to "hobby" or "leisure" farmer landowners - or to become part of a much larger agricultural concern (though the latter may not in itself be bad). Government backed loans are a sound idea - or some mechanism whereby farms are initially tenanted with a view to later purchase).
Hi Bear, thank you it is what I have been saying to family and friends. We own and live on I suppose a smallish farm, 100 acres plus 100 acres off ground. We let it out to local farmers and live in the farmhouse with family all around in converted barns. Our son did not want to farm, so we are waiting for the next generation to see if one of 3 boys or 2 girls will want to take it on. I think it is only fair that there should be Inheritance tax on the large scale farms , as other businesses have to pay theirs. A farms land cannot be picked up and moved like many other types of businesses can, therefore more limiting. So I suppose I sit on the fence seeing both sides. I see the value of tractors and machinery has gone up enormously, and the makers ie Lord Bamford, JCB, instead of paying £500,000,000 to HMRC, doing a bunk to Cyprus or wherever he has gone to! How does he make that much and why are the government not going after him and many others who owe HMRC big time? I have heard that he and his wife let an ex prime minister live free of charge in a spare house they owned worth several millions, can't we take that and sell it off and maybe a few others as well? That would cover the interest on the debt. I agree Brexit and the dreadful trade deal are responsible for farmers not being able to make worthwhile living / profits, and I hope that farming friends don't get too carried away with all the hype being banded around by those who have hung to or bought land as an investment, Dyson, Clarkson plus Mogg and many more! I say well done to close the loophole.
Huge thanks for this article, Bear. You are the only person I have seen who has spoken the truth. As a rural, very much countryside dweller pretty much all of my life, with farming neighbours (mainly tenant farmers, but one exception), I have seen first hand the damage that Brexit has done to agriculture, and that nonsensical deal with Australia and New Zealand has made livestock farmers literally take their own lives. This is not the way to treat people who grow our food. We need to be robust about agriculture, sort out the "tax avoidance" merchants and treat them like the vermin they are whilst at the same time, supporting proper farmers and thus securing our food production. Thank you again.
I think that Reeves could have anticipated this and lanced the boil by announcing government backed loans to aquire farmland for those who are currently tenants or own small farms - like the old local authority mortgages - starting from (let's say) 2027, plus a much higher sliding scale of IHT on the very largest holdings (which, as we all know, are used primarily as a IHT avoidance mechanism) so that the land held in them makes its way back to the market by the date the "farm mortgages" flow into the system. Quite difficult to frame that as an attack on small farmers - though agree that Brexit and the "trade deals" entered into purely to grab headlines are the real villains here.
When you find a voice of reason these days it’s like a water slide on a hot day. Thank you
And what the hell business is it of the grotesque Musk to be commenting on British farming in this way? Do British 'tech bros' comment on U.S. of A. farming policies like this? I don't think so. I think Musk needs to be taught to stopper his great gob.
Brilliant as per usual.
It is actually a worrying that Labour is struggling with putting their policies in the correct context.
They also seem to have issues with policy decisions that don’t make sense at this point in time, causing a lot of distress.
Eg. Winter fuel allowance, keeping fuel tax rates the same whilst allocating increasing public transportation costs.
Continuing to subsidise failing water companies and fossil fuel industries. Continuing to create Freeports, allowing big tax breaks and tax evasion.
I really don’t understand it.
The comments highlight the key issue facing the handing down of farms in the UK. That key issue is not inheritance tax, but the fact that young people who want to become farmers are not necessarily the children of farmers. There needs to be a mechanism for those who wish to run a small family farm to be able to buy it at a realistic price (for both parties) from those who do not wish to carry on their parents' business - whereas at present such farms (depending on location ) get sold to "hobby" or "leisure" farmer landowners - or to become part of a much larger agricultural concern (though the latter may not in itself be bad). Government backed loans are a sound idea - or some mechanism whereby farms are initially tenanted with a view to later purchase).