The campaign against planned changes to inheritance tax in the UK has been ramped up ahead of next Wednesday’s Autumn Budget.

A delegation from the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) held an event in Westminster on Monday which aimed to highlight how the changes will impact NI farms.

UFU president William Irvine said the UK government needs to “urgently change course” on its plan for a new £1m limit on agricultural and business property relief (APR/BPR).

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He said the policy will have a significant impact in NI as farms here tend to have higher land values, an older demographic of farm owners, and more sole ownership.

“Farming in NI is asset-rich but cash-poor, and the reality is that many families simply cannot raise the liquidity required within the short time frame to meet the tax bills these proposals would create,” Irvine said.

Letter

A letter from four ministers in NI Executive has also been sent to Chancellor Rachel Reeves which calls for planned changes to inheritance to be “considered again”.

The letter is signed by First and deputy First Ministers Michelle O’Neill and Emma Little-Pengelly, as well as Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir and Finance Minister John O’Dowd.

In particular, the ministers propose that the threshold for APR/BPR should be raised from £1m to £5m and any unused relief should be transferrable between spouses.

“This would go a long way to protecting the sustainability of smaller farms and allow for critical succession planning,” the letter reads.

Change unlikely

Despite the ongoing campaign, a major change in the policy is not expected to be announced in next week’s Autumn Budget.

After that, there could be an opportunity in late December for an amendment to be added to the Finance Bill when it is debated in Parliament.

However, with Labour currently commanding a huge majority in the House of Commons, getting enough support from Labour MPs seems unlikely.

Up to 40 Labour MPs from rural constituencies have been sympathetic to lobbying efforts by farmers, but around four times that number would need to rebel to get an amendment passed.