Bigger shift needed on farm inheritance tax, UUP urges Government
Mr Robert Carmichael, the Chairman of the East Londonderry Ulster Unionist Party Association, has said “a radical rethink is urgently needed on the Inheritance Tax proposals to protect the long-term future of small farms not just across the constituency, but right across the entire Province”.
Mr Carmichael, in a statement on behalf of the UUP Association, was reacting to rumours circulating in the farming community that the Westminster Government was prepared to rethink some of its proposals in the Inheritance Tax plan.
Mr Carmichael said: “Agriculture is one of the industrial life bloods of not just East Londonderry, but in many rural constituencies in this Province and farming communities are rightly worried about the implications Inheritance Tax could have for the long-term future of many farms.
“Put bluntly, the Inheritance Tax proposals are on virtually every farmer’s mind at the moment. Rumours are now circulating among the farming communities of a potential rethink on the proposal of this disastrous Inheritance Tax.
“What is being talked about is a so-called Minimum Share Rule. This would involve farms where up to 60 per cent could get full inheritance tax relief to a value of £5 million per person or £10 million per couple. For farms valued at between £5 million and £10 million, there would be 50 per cent tax relief - currently 20 per cent - with no tax relief on farms valued at over £10 million.
“While these recent proposals with the potential changes to Inheritance Tax to raise the threshold limits are to be welcomed, they are only a short-term fix to a long-term challenge. What is urgently required is a permanent solution which will guarantee the long-term viability of our agricultural sector, especially among family farms.
“Everyone in the agricultural industry knows that whilst the thresholds will be welcomed for the here and now, they would be totally irrelevant to farm businesses in the longer term as they appear not to be linked to agricultural land inflation.
“Of course, our farming unions must continue to lobby all political parties to ensure their verbal commitments to eradicate the Family Farm Tax are transferred into their next election manifestos.
“What the farming communities need is firm commitments to act; not empty political rhetoric,” said Mr Carmichael.