Farmers for Action (FFA) representatives are taking part in a London protest today (Tuesday, November 19), organised to highlight the deep anger felt by farmers at the recent Agricultural Property Relief (APR) tax changes contained in Budget UK 2024.
UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves capped APR in inheritance tax at £1 million.
As part of the budget, Chancellor Reeves announced that, while there would continue to be no inheritance tax due on combined business and agricultural assets worth less than £1 million, above that threshold, assets would be taxed at 20%, from April 2026.
FFA spokesperson, William Taylor, told Agriland: “The chancellor must fully reverse the APR proposals.
“If the current proposals reach the statute book in any sense, farmers will always be thinking that they could be brought into the APR net without warning.
“What we are looking at is a form of Pandora’s Box scenario for family farm businesses.”
Given this fixed policy position, FFA has said that it will not accept any potential move by the chancellor to increase the proposed APR tax-free threshold.
“It is the principle involved here that concerned farmers most – it is totally flawed. The only option is for the chancellor to take the APR issue totally off the table as a tax matter that impacts on the farming sectors,” Taylor continued.
FFA is not expecting the Labour government to fully reverse its APR policy on the back of today’s protest.
“However, it should open the door for a meeting that involves the chancellor, the Prime Minister and representatives of all the UK’s farming organisations, “ Taylor continued.
If today’s protest march in London does not secure the response from government demanded by the UK farm groups, a follow-up tractor protest will be held in London prior to Christmas.
Tax affairs for the UK as a whole are handled by the Treasury in London and HMRC.
“But this will not stop us lobbying every elected politician at Stormont,“ William Taylor stressed.
“It is critically important that all farmer groups and elected politicians in Northern Ireland are on the same page where the APR issue is concerned.
“The issue puts a fundamental question mark over the future of farming as we know it today.
“We have no trouble in agreeing to support all other organisations intending to be at the London Westminster protest against the introduction of the disastrous inheritance tax by the Labour government in the recent budget,” he concluded.
