The OBR (Office for Budget Responsibility) oversees government fiscal policies and published a supplementary forecast on the costing of changes to agricultural and business property relief.
Despite repeated promises before the election not to do so, the government scrapped IHT (inheritance tax) reliefs for farms, designed to enable family farms to be passed on to the next generation.
In its report, the OBR says that it is ‘highly uncertain’ whether the measures will raise the £500m the Treasury – which did not consult with anyone before launching the changes – claims it will raise.
The report goes on to say ‘it is likely to be more difficult for some older individuals to quickly restructure their affairs in response to the measure’.
‘An appalling position’
NFU President Tom Bradshaw said the report confirms what the NFU has “repeatedly warned” since the Autumn Budget was unveiled – that it will be older farmers who will be hardest hit by the government’s misguided family farm tax.
He added: “One minute they were advised to keep their farms until death to pass them on to the next generation, the next they’re left knowing that if they live beyond April 2026 when the measures come in, their children may have to break up or sell the farm.
“What an appalling position to put elderly people in.
“Surely it is time for ministers to accept this policy needs the proper consultation it never had?”
NFU President Tom Bradshaw
“I outlined the terrible human impact on elderly farmers explicitly when I met the Prime Minister, and in a personal letter I wrote to Chancellor Rachel Reeves and again in front of the recent Efra Select Committee.
“At every stage the government has consistently ignored what we have been telling them about this abhorrent policy. Is it now going to ignore the OBR too?
“And, given the OBR says it’s highly uncertain it will raise the expected amount of money either, surely it is time for ministers to accept this policy needs the proper consultation it never had?”
