The Farmers

[Alex]

Thousands gathered in London to protest Farmer Starmer's tax grab.  It's all over Europe isn't it, not just UK governments trying to put small farmers out of business, forcing them to sell their land or turn it over to bloody wild flowers or solar panels.

I dont know if it's true, possibly another fake news, but I read ages ago that Bill Gates was buying up farming land in the US so it could happen here too.  WILL happen according to Andrew Lloyd Webb who I watched being interviewed on GB News.

[muddy]

I am against all Inheritance Tax it is stealing by any other name .

However I don't see why farmers should be exempt .
The rate for them is 20% to be payed over 10 years 
They have an allowance of £1million + another £500k 
So for a couple that would be £3 million .

For everyone else it's £325k + another £175k if it's the family home going to direct decendants .
For two people that would be theoretically £1million this however discriminates against people who have no children .
The rate is 40% and must be paid sharpish .

[klondike]

The problem with farmers is that the value of farmland has skyrocketed and the profit from that land has declined due in large part to supermarket buying power and cheap imports. Small farms may be worth a lot on paper but don't generate sufficient profit to pay off the tax even over 10 years. So the land will be sold off and the farm will go out of business. That either puts the land into the control of very large businesses which are not impacted by inheritance tax and are in a better position to push up prices or simply be used for something other than agriculture. This as they say will kill off family farms over time. It will also lead to higher prices and more imports.

[Scrumpy]

Why should anyone be exempt from paying inheritance tax.. ?
 
If I have to pay it so should they..

Farmers will always find something to moan about..
I'm still waiting for the Turkey Shortage .. They are a bit late with that one..

[klondike]

Clearly Labour don't think farmers are "working people". They should be going out in the countryside more.

[dextrous63]

Question (I have no idea about the answer).. if you physically owned an office block or a factory, then would inheritance tax need to be paid upon your death?

[klondike]

Most factories and the like I expect are owned by companies and companies don't die. Owners of shares in those companies are subject to inheritance tax of course as are all assets.

Rich individuals use lawyers to put their stuff into trusts well before they expect to die and that precludes inheritance tax if done correctly. I expect the farmers will too but if any die before they do that or they fail to do it then the farm will be gone. The problem is farming can be dangerous and farmers can die on the job so may not have secured the assets from inheritance tax. Mind you we can all die on the job. 

[muddy]

Question (I have no idea about the answer).. if you physically owned an office block or a factory, then would inheritance tax need to be paid upon your death?

Yes 


November 21, 2024, 02:12:17 PM

Clearly Labour don't think farmers are "working people". They should be going out in the countryside more.

If they do they will find the farmers easily .
They are the ones swanning about in big defenders and wax jackets .
( at least where I live ) 
There must be some poor farmers in other parts of the country .

King Charles owns vast acres  of farmland of course he pays no IHT and nor will William when he inherits it .
To those who have will be given more 

[Alex]

The problem with farmers is that the value of farmland has skyrocketed and the profit from that land has declined due in large part to supermarket buying power and cheap imports. Small farms may be worth a lot on paper but don't generate sufficient profit to pay off the tax even over 10 years. So the land will be sold off and the farm will go out of business. That either puts the land into the control of very large businesses which are not impacted by inheritance tax and are in a better position to push up prices or simply be used for something other than agriculture. This as they say will kill off family farms over time. It will also lead to higher prices and more imports.

    

[muddy]

They will have to stop sending the kids to expensive private school then and give them the money to pay off the possible IHT bill.

[klondike]

Family farms are unlikely to be sending the offspring to Eton. their destiny is to continue the farm and produce more young farmers.

[Alex]

Only one farmer I ever came across, kids went to local primary school.    He was a dairy farmer.

[muddy]

Family farms are unlikely to be sending the offspring to Eton. their destiny is to continue the farm and produce more young farmers.

How many farmers do you know ?
What makes you think all 'family farms' are impoverished ?
Eton is not the only public school in the country BTW .
There are many and you find many farmers children  in their alumni .

As I have said I am against IHT completely but I see no reason why farmers should be exempt from it when the general public are not and have to pay double and do not have the lucury of 10 years to pay .

The 100% agricultural exemption was only created in 1992. It is not a god given right or an original feature of inheritance tax. And the UK has a farming industry before 1992. Perhaps it would be better to return to times when agricultural land was not so sought after by financial investors due to its nil tax status on death.

Also farmers don't have to farm it is a life choice .
If they are asset rich and cash poor they could always sell their farms - and the market for farms is high as people want to be farmers . So if it is worth 3 million they could sell it and stick the money in the bank at 4% and live off the income .
No one if forcing them to be farmers and if as they claim they make so little money why  are they farmers in the first place ?

[GrannyMac]

A relative by marriage is a farmer.  He and his wife rarely have a break, his elderly parents still live in the farmhouse, but can't do much work any more.  The farmer and his wife live in a built on annex. He's been seriously ill twice, but has had to keep going as best as he can, and his wife, who wasn't brought up on a farm is amazing.  They can't afford much outside help. 

I don't know what their finances are like, but his wife takes on bits of cleaning and other temporary work.  That doesn't suggest they're cash rich.  The farm, the house, the barns, the livestock (mainly sheep), the vehicles and machinery are probably worth loads.  Maybe they could get planning permission for houses, sell up and retire as others have done. But perhaps it's more important for the rest of us that they keep farming?

[muddy]

Where is this Granny ?