Northern Ireland farm inheritance tax crisis: DAERA says 50% of all farms could be impacted by Labour proposals

DAERA and the Ulster Farmers Union estimate that almost 50% of NI’s 24,000 farms are under threat by recent changes that will see all farm assets worth over £1m subjected to inheritance tax.

The concern is that many farms would have to be sold to raise money to pay the new inheritance bills - thus putting an end to potentially 50% of NI family farms.

Hundreds of tractors brought Whitehall to a standstill today in protest against the proposals in yet another demonstration against the “toxic” Budget in October which farmers say puts their businesses, futures and national food security at risk.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s plans include the introduction of a 20% inheritance tax rate on farms worth over £1m and speeding up the phase-out of EU-era subsidies in favour of nature-friendly farming payments.

Coleraine-based Farmers For Action (FFA) were one of the organisers and supplied a major banner used in the protest.

FFA spokesman William Taylor said Democrats introduced a similar tax in the US, which put many farmers out of business and saw large corporations buying up their land.

But, he said, when Donald Trump was last elected "he immediately removed the 50% tax, lowered the cost of fuel which they use in their tractors and much more" which reversed the trend.

He also rubbished claims by Labour that farmers can exempt themselves from the new tax if they sign the farm over to family - providing the owner lives more than seven years; he said this was misleading because the people who are worst hit are the elderly who may well not live seven years.

Yesterday the Ulster Farmers Union (UFU) welcomed fresh figures from DAERA which revised the number of NI farms likely to be impacted from 30% to almost 50%.

UFU President William Irvine said they had asked DAERA to revise its farm valuations, this time to include farm houses, farm buildings, machinery and livestock - as well as land.

He said: "The [fresh] analysis underscores the devastating impact that the inheritance tax changes will have on NI family farms, many of which have been passed down through the generations. The tax changes will compound the financial strain farm families are already under."

Speaking of this comprehensive analysis, DAERA Minister Andrew Muir said his Department’s analysis “is at odds with the Treasury figures".

He added: “I again urge the UK Government to turn back and reconsider the planned tax changes given the disproportionate impact on family farms, particularly in Northern Ireland. The ability to pass farms down through generations of farming families is crucial to securing the future of our agri-food sector."

NI is under more serious threat from the changes because land here is more valuable and farms here are mainly family owned.