A farmer has claimed he is facing a “£40,000,000 tax bill”, sparking bemusement online.
One of the Labour’s most publicised policies since coming into power has been its plans to remove the inheritance tax exemption on some farms.
In her budget last October, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that inheritance tax would apply to agricultural assets worth more than £1 million from April 2026.
Since then, there has been widespread outrage from some farmers, with varying claims about how much the policy will affect farmers and the farming industry.
However, this has to be one of the most ludicrous of the lot.
In an interview with sweary Tory minister Dame Andrea Jenkyn, one farmer claimed he is facing a tax bill of £40m.
It wasn’t long before people worked out that if this £40m figure was true, then that means the farmer in question owns farm land with a value in the region of £200m.
This wouldn’t really make him your average farmer, would it?
From April 2026, inherited agricultural assets worth more than £1 million, which were previously exempt, will have to pay inheritance tax at 20 per cent – half the usual rate.
The Treasury says it expects 500 estates to be affected by the changes each year, given that there were a total of 462 inherited farms valued above £1 million in 2021-22, according to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
Under the new rules, those 462 farms would be affected by the 20 per cent inheritance tax on any value above £1 million (not on the whole value). The normal rate of inheritance tax is 40 per cent.
Related: Farmageddon: Ed Conway explains what’s really going on in farming