A planned inheritance tax on farmland is causing “enormous distress”, First Minister Michelle O’Neill said on Tuesday evening ahead of the tabling of an Assembly motion condemning the move.
The introduction of the tax “threatens the future of many of our family farms”, Ms O‘Neill said in a speech delivered at an Ulster Farmers’ Union protest gathering at the Eikon Centre outside Lisburn.
In the budget announced last month, the UK government said it planned to introduce the 20% on land worth more than £1m on the death of the owner.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, speaking ahead of the G20 Summit in Brazil, said he is confident “the vast majority of farms and farmers will not be affected”.
But the first minister, in her speech, said: “The decision by the British government to change the inheritance tax reliefs for farmers is wrong and it is causing enormous distress among the farming community here.
“The approach of the British government threatens to undermine the future of many of our family farms.”
She added that the “ability to pass down a family farm from one generation to the next is key to sustaining our farming communities now and into the future.
“These proposals come at a time when many farmers and rural communities are still struggling with the loss EU funding which, despite assurances. have not been replaced following Brexit.”
A motion urging the London government to “reconsider their current course of action” will be tabled in the Assembly on Wednesday.
Mr Starmer, arguing most farms and farmers will not be affected, said: “For a typical case, which is parents with a farm they want to pass on to one of their children, by the time you’ve taken into account not only the exemption for the farm property itself, but also the exemption for spouse to spouse, then parent to child, it’s £3m before any inheritance tax will be payable.”
