Berliner Boersenzeitung - Farmers descend on London to overturn inheritance tax change

EUR -
AED 3.818175
AFN 72.797719
ALL 98.449296
AMD 411.004828
ANG 1.872955
AOA 948.054394
ARS 1066.311715
AUD 1.668113
AWG 1.87116
AZN 1.768965
BAM 1.954396
BBD 2.098393
BDT 124.19081
BGN 1.955581
BHD 0.392145
BIF 3072.59335
BMD 1.039533
BND 1.410387
BOB 7.196831
BRL 6.437413
BSD 1.039254
BTN 88.509435
BWP 14.374677
BYN 3.400558
BYR 20374.855355
BZD 2.090099
CAD 1.497624
CDF 2983.460647
CHF 0.935829
CLF 0.037222
CLP 1027.163148
CNY 7.585372
CNH 7.588908
COP 4586.421522
CRC 527.721006
CUC 1.039533
CUP 27.547636
CVE 110.185868
CZK 25.132789
DJF 185.06709
DKK 7.460721
DOP 63.054716
DZD 140.566631
EGP 52.908195
ERN 15.593002
ETB 132.294989
FJD 2.411977
FKP 0.823292
GBP 0.829486
GEL 2.920682
GGP 0.823292
GHS 15.277028
GIP 0.823292
GMD 74.846661
GNF 8978.551858
GTQ 8.007249
GYD 217.423852
HKD 8.074363
HNL 26.398042
HRK 7.456476
HTG 135.892406
HUF 411.386519
IDR 16854.007582
ILS 3.816247
IMP 0.823292
INR 88.537577
IQD 1361.422265
IRR 43751.368531
ISK 145.098247
JEP 0.823292
JMD 162.233488
JOD 0.737345
JPY 163.308108
KES 134.359917
KGS 90.43918
KHR 4168.006655
KMF 484.552483
KPW 935.579512
KRW 1516.736442
KWD 0.320353
KYD 0.866078
KZT 542.14065
LAK 22741.667577
LBP 93065.16323
LKR 307.719005
LRD 189.144162
LSL 19.151746
LTL 3.069472
LVL 0.628803
LYD 5.103335
MAD 10.455991
MDL 19.13226
MGA 4899.481331
MKD 61.484688
MMK 3376.364052
MNT 3532.334482
MOP 8.317127
MRU 41.38328
MUR 48.930718
MVR 16.006255
MWK 1802.105779
MXN 20.946609
MYR 4.664402
MZN 66.430063
NAD 19.151746
NGN 1609.062836
NIO 38.242535
NOK 11.851383
NPR 141.615296
NZD 1.844195
OMR 0.400229
PAB 1.039254
PEN 3.876416
PGK 4.215972
PHP 60.790857
PKR 289.562045
PLN 4.272583
PYG 8113.173348
QAR 3.788779
RON 4.974478
RSD 116.96726
RUB 103.956844
RWF 1439.366288
SAR 3.902853
SBD 8.714986
SCR 14.844265
SDG 625.277692
SEK 11.524705
SGD 1.413157
SHP 0.823292
SLE 23.699822
SLL 21798.499544
SOS 593.973425
SRD 36.51156
STD 21516.243325
SVC 9.093469
SYP 2611.859198
SZL 19.14625
THB 35.502128
TJS 11.353846
TMT 3.648762
TND 3.309823
TOP 2.434695
TRY 36.647089
TTD 7.05893
TWD 33.975901
TZS 2515.671135
UAH 43.68063
UGX 3819.257117
USD 1.039533
UYU 46.496607
UZS 13408.370487
VES 53.614006
VND 26445.730624
VUV 123.415492
WST 2.87201
XAF 655.486248
XAG 0.035243
XAU 0.000398
XCD 2.809391
XDR 0.796728
XOF 655.486248
XPF 119.331742
YER 260.273179
ZAR 19.359023
ZMK 9357.102525
ZMW 28.761344
ZWL 334.729342
  • RYCEF

    -0.0200

    7.25

    -0.28%

  • CMSD

    -0.0100

    23.55

    -0.04%

  • CMSC

    0.0420

    23.902

    +0.18%

  • SCS

    -0.0900

    11.65

    -0.77%

  • RELX

    0.1200

    45.59

    +0.26%

  • GSK

    0.4600

    34.06

    +1.35%

  • RIO

    0.5900

    59.23

    +1%

  • RBGPF

    -0.7000

    59.8

    -1.17%

  • NGG

    0.5200

    59.02

    +0.88%

  • BCC

    -0.5100

    122.24

    -0.42%

  • JRI

    0.0400

    12.1

    +0.33%

  • BCE

    -0.3200

    22.84

    -1.4%

  • VOD

    -0.0200

    8.37

    -0.24%

  • BTI

    -0.0200

    36.22

    -0.06%

  • AZN

    1.2800

    66.63

    +1.92%

  • BP

    0.1500

    28.75

    +0.52%

Farmers descend on London to overturn inheritance tax change
Farmers descend on London to overturn inheritance tax change / Photo: HENRY NICHOLLS - AFP

Farmers descend on London to overturn inheritance tax change

British farmers have threatened to choke the streets of the UK capital on Tuesday, calling on the government to overturn a controversial plan to change inheritance tax rules for land ownership.

Text size:

Farming businesses previously qualified for 100-percent relief on inheritance tax on agricultural and business property, reducing the amounts that farmers and landowners pay when farmland is passed on after a death.

From April 6, 2026, however, total exemption from death duties will only apply to the first £1 million ($1.27 million) of combined agricultural and business property.

The Labour government has faced a furious backlash from farmers since the change was announced by finance minister Rachel Reeves last month, with even tech billionaire Elon Musk wading in on the row.

Musk, who has been critical of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, on Monday claimed on his X social media platform that "Britain is going full Stalin", in an apparent reference to Soviet leader Joseph Stalin's forced collectivisation of privately owned farms.

He shared a Guardian newspaper comment piece that accused farmers of having "hoarded land for too long", and argued the inheritance tax change could break up farms and give younger farmers a chance to buy land.

The National Farmers Union (NFU), which represents more than 45,000 members in England and Wales, said its "mass lobby" of parliament will help explain the effects of the policy change on farms, farming and food supply.

It is expecting some 1,800 members to take part from 0900 GMT, with thousands more to turn up at a rally in nearby Whitehall.

"This awful family farm tax has to be overturned," NFU president Tom Bradshaw said in a video message to members.

"The evidence that this decision is based on is weak. Even the government can't agree between Defra (the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) and Treasury whether the figures are accurate."

Central to the row is how many people could be affected.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday said "the vast majority of farms" will not be affected.

The government maintains the actual threshold before paying inheritance tax could be as much as £3 million ($3.8 million), once exemptions for each partner in a couple and for the farm property are taken into account.

The Treasury maintains that this means as such nearly three-quarters of farms would not be liable to pay death duties.

But the NFU insists that more farms could have to pay the tax when land, property and equipment are taken into account, pointing to Defra figures that show that 66 percent of farm businesses in England have a net value of more than £1 million.

(Y.Berger--BBZ)