As inheritance tax changes announced in December come into force today, the Ulster Farmers’ Union have renewed their call for the UK Government to fully reverse family farm tax proposals. While today’s changes to Agricultural Property Relief (APR) will see the 100% threshold at £2.5 million transferable between partners, with a 50% relief thereafter, the UFU continue to work with all political parties to ensure they pledge to completely overturn the policy in their next manifesto.
UFU president, William Irvine, said, “The original proposals of a £1 million threshold brought forward in the 2024 Autumn Budget would have been catastrophic to agriculture, and were based on nothing other than a complete lack of understanding or respect for how agriculture operates both in NI and across the UK. However, as a result of sustained, coordinated lobbying by the UFU and other UK farming unions, backed by members, industry partners and stakeholders, those proposals were changed. This result shows the strength of a united voice across the UK farming industry.”
The UFU continuously raised how NI will be severely and disproportionately affected by IHT changes as a result of higher land values, an older demographic of farmers, and a greater prevalence of sole-owner, livestock-based farms.
The president reiterated how the UFU intend to continue lobbying for further changes to IHT proposals, both immediately on the practical challenges with the current policy, and with political parties longer-term.
“We are in a better position today than we were at this stage last year, but as I said in December when the announcement was made, the work is still not done,” said Mr Irvine.
“The UFU are pressing the UK Government to remove this harmful family farm tax completely, and we continue to lobby all political parties in Westminster to see that this policy change is in their next manifestos.”
