Responding to news the inheritance tax threshold will be raised to £2.5m, after a tireless campaign fought by NFU Scotland and the other farming unions, President Andrew Connon said:
“Today’s announcement is a significant day for the future of Scottish agriculture. The changes set out by the UK Government is a victory for common sense and reflects 14 months of relentless lobbying from NFU Scotland and the other UK Farming Unions in our pursuit to mitigate the worst of the impacts of the policy and protect our family farms.”
This announcement, which sees the tax threshold raised from £1m to £2.5m per spouse, will come as a huge relief to many. While there is still tax to pay, this will greatly reduce that tax burden for many family farms, those working people of the countryside.
The original proposed changes to Agriculture Property Relief and Business Property Relief announced in last year’s budget came as a huge shock to the farming community and represented one of the biggest generational risks to the future viability of family farms, domestic food production, and Scotland’s farming industry. Whilst the changes set out today still means there will be taxation implications for farming families in the future, the increase to the thresholds and associated reliefs do provide a comfort blanket to many Scottish farming businesses.
This has been a monumental effort from the entire team at NFU Scotland, including from thousands of members the length and breadth of the country who have shown incredible resilience, strength, and solidarity in response to the original ill-conceived proposals. I am incredibly grateful to all our members for their unwavering support during the past 14 months, during which time they have got involved in lobbying, rallies, and direct engagement with the public to raise awareness of our campaign. I am also grateful to those many Scottish politicians who have supported our campaign directly and those who have engaged and listened to our pleas for common sense to prevail. A particular thanks must go to Alistair Carmichael MP, the Chair of the EFRA Committee, for his guidance and support throughout the entire campaign.
The last 14 months has been emotional and draining for many people, but today’s announcement will be cause for small celebration across the farming industry in Scotland. There are no doubt still tough times ahead for our farmers and crofters as we continue to navigate many wider challenges, but NFU Scotland remains hugely optimistic for the future and today’s announcement has increased that belief further.