Welsh Tories reiterate call for UK Government to scrap inheritance tax changes for farmers

Emily Price

The Welsh Conservatives have reiterated calls for inheritance tax changes for farmers to be scraped entirely after ministers were urged by a cross-party parliamentary group to delay the reforms until 2027.

The Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (Efra), which includes seven Labour MPs, said the UK Government had failed to properly consult on the policy, leaving its potential impact “disputed and unclear”.

Concerns were also raised that the proposed changes threaten to hit “the most vulnerable”.

The controversial policy will see land and businesses worth more than £1 million face a 20% levy from April 2026.

UK Ministers have insisted the cash raised from the changes will help stabilise the UK’s finances and fix creaking public services.

Protests

But the proposals have faced fierce opposition within the sector, sparking widespread protests from farmers who marched on the UK Parliament and the Senedd.

Critics have warned that cash-poor, asset-rich farmers will be forced to sell their land, investment will stall and the families of elderly or vulnerable farmers who do not have time for succession planning will be the most affected.

In a report published last week, Efra called on the UK Government to push back announcing its final agricultural property relief and business property relief reforms until October 2026, to come into effect in April 2027.

The group of MPs suggested that doing so would “allow for better formulation of tax policy” and give “vulnerable farmers” more time to seek professional advice.

It criticised the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for “poor communication and last-minute decision-making following “rumours and departmental leaks”.

The Welsh Conservatives – many of whom are farmers themselves – say Labour’s tax changes   should be scrapped entirely.

‘Hardworking’

Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Samuel Kurtz said: “UK Labour’s reckless inheritance tax reforms threaten the livelihoods of hardworking farming families and risk decimating the rural economy, yet Labour continues to pile on the pressure without understanding the consequences.

“After the Welsh Labour Government have already clobbered the industry with their, Wales-wide Nitrate Vulnerable Zone, botched Sustainable Farming Scheme and their failure to control bovine TB, these unfair changes add insult to injury.

“Instead of offering support, both Governments are driving rural communities into financial instability

“These changes will threaten lives and livelihoods in rural Wales, and simply delaying these plans is not enough.

“It is high time the Labour Government realises this and scraps these damaging proposals entirely. Otherwise, we risk not only the dismantling of family farms but also a serious threat to our nation’s food security.”