Inheritance Tax on Farmers: A Short-Sighted Attack on Our Food Supply
November 2024 , Rob Maynard
It’s alarming that none of the UK’s front-bench cabinet ministers appear to have meaningful business experience, as evidenced by the disastrous decision to impose inheritance tax on farmers. This policy is nothing short of a direct attack on the nation’s food supply at a time when stability is desperately needed.
With energy uncertainty caused by erratic Net Zero policies and the looming threat of global conflict, now is a terrible time to disrupt the agricultural sector. Farmers are a unique and indispensable workforce. They labor seven days a week, enduring harsh weather conditions and grueling hours, often for wages that fall well below the minimum wage. Farming is not merely a job—it’s a vocation, with skills and traditions handed down through generations.
To call farmers "wealthy" based on the value of their land is a gross oversimplification. Most farms have remained unsold for centuries, their value only realized if converted for non-agricultural uses like housing or renewable energy projects. These farms are not just property; they are living, breathing businesses that feed the nation. Taxing farmers on unrealized land value forces families to sell their legacy, crippling their ability to continue operations and provide food for the British public.
The government’s approach effectively equates to land confiscation, jeopardizing both livelihoods and the UK’s food security. Farms require constant reinvestment just to survive, and treating them as cash-rich entities shows a dangerous misunderstanding of agricultural economics.
Inheritance tax on farms is not just unfair—it is reckless. By penalizing the stewards of our food supply, the government threatens the very system that sustains us all. It’s time to reconsider this policy before irreparable damage is done to Britain’s agricultural heritage and future food security. Farmers need support, not punitive taxation.
