The Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) has accused the government of failing to grasp the “severity” of proposed inheritance tax reforms, warning they could have devastating consequences for family farms in Northern Ireland.
UFU president William Irvine and parliamentary officer Alexander Kinnear attended a Westminster debate on Tuesday (28 October) examining the potential effect of reforms to agricultural property relief (APR) and business property relief (BPR).
The two are key tax mechanisms that allow family farms and rural businesses to be passed down without being broken up to pay large inheritance tax bills.
The debate, secured by Carla Lockhart MP, the DUP’s Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs spokesperson, focused on the disproportionate impact the government’s plans could have on smaller farms in Northern Ireland.
Lockhart pressed Treasury ministers directly to reconsider the proposed changes, which industry representatives warn would place unsustainable financial pressure on farming families.
Following the debate, UFU president William Irvine said: “Today we attended Westminster for a Northern Ireland-specific debate on inheritance tax changes.
"This debate, brought by Carla Lockhart, was purposed with highlighting the vulnerability that Northern Ireland family farms are facing if there are no change to the crippling inheritance tax proposals.”
He said the session allowed MPs from across political parties to express their concerns. “The debate gave other Northern Ireland MPs the chance to highlight their concerns, and they were joined by Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Labour MPs speaking out on the detrimental effects of the devastating proposal,” Irvine said.
Despite the cross-party criticism, the UFU president said the government’s position remained unchanged. “The government have not budged in their stance towards changes to inheritance tax; they have held their line as they have from day one, and their response today unfortunately reflected that,” he said.
However, Irvine added that the debate was still an important opportunity to keep pressure on ministers. “Today remains a useful opportunity to remind the government that we haven’t gone away,” he said.
“We are still gravely concerned about the impact of the proposals on our family farms across Northern Ireland and we are, in the strongest terms, demanding that these proposals are removed from the table. Our fight continues.”
The UFU has warned that removing or reducing agricultural and business property relief could force families to sell land or break up long-established farms to meet inheritance tax bills.
It says such changes would have “catastrophic” consequences for rural communities, succession planning, and the wider Northern Ireland agri-food economy.
The Treasury has said the proposals are intended to simplify inheritance tax rules and ensure consistency across sectors.
