Fuming Farmers: Why Inheritance Tax is Misunderstood

November 20th, 2024, images from PEXELS

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My first recollection of a farmer is watching Shaun the Sheep whilst eating breakfast before primary school, the angry clay figure groaning at his job. I laughed back then, as farmers surely weren’t like that in real life? Ten years later, I just opened Instagram, and the first post I saw? A report of thousands of farmers congregating around Westminster, demanding relief on their land. Leading this swarm is (suprise surprise) Nigel Farage, and the ‘strikers should be shot’ man himself, Jeremy Clarkson. Whilst I would love to poke fun at the masses of tractors and flat caps at rage with the government, I genuinely feel as though many are misunderstanding the new laws. Let's explore why farmers are so angry, and why this is not needed. Then, let’s poke fun at Nigel Farage and his clan of right wing nonsense talkers!

In the budget, the Labour government announced plans to expand inheritance tax to farmers. This means, from April 2026, inherited agricultural land worth over £1 million will pay tax at a rate of 20%. And what a sad time for them! Your loving parents have just died, leaving you as the sole inheritor to take charge of your childhood farm. You love it; the pigs being slaughtered, the faeces you have to clean up, the cabbage you grow. But wait, what’s that? Sir Keir Starmer and his Socialist cabinet is making YOU pay hundreds of thousands in tax? He’s going to personally storm your land if you don’t pay it back immediately? You calculate… Your farm is worth £1.4million, that means you’re paying… £280,000… of YOUR (parents) hard earned money?? Christ, may as well file for bankruptcy. 

Except, that’s not really what happens, is it? 

Firstly, how do you pay tax? Like other taxes, tax is only paid on the asset worth over £1 million. In this example, our wonderful farmer would only pay tax on the remaining £400,000. Which would make the tax being paid come to £80,000. Seems a bit more manageable now, doesn’t it Nigel? And, even if you can’t pay that all at once, the new law states that farmers will have up to 10 years to pay this tax. Which is significantly longer to other inheritance tax, which is usually 6 months. 

So, now that we know the concept of tax, what will actually happen to farmers? 

On Tuesday, 19th of November, the BBC conducted research to estimate how many farms will actually be affected by the new tax. The largest estimate was 70,000, yet the ‘probable’ estimate was around 500 each year. So, if 1000 people protested in Westminster because of this unjust tax, it is probable only ½ of them would actually be affected in April 2026. 

A large reason as to why this tax has sparked controversy is because of the reception from the media. According to the Independent, 66% of farms in the UK are worth over £1 million. And more often than not, farmers are rich in land assets, but with the ever-increasing prices of land and livestock, they can be tight on cash assets. However, a good proportion of the voices you hear in the media are rich in both. Enter Jeremy Clarkson; with a net worth of £43 million, he is the perfect example of the working class farmer who will be ruined from this tax. Leading these protests, Clarkson has been vocal on criticising the government. And with his mate Nigel Farage, who is paid almost £98,000 a month (GB News), they will fight for anything to improve conditions of people who need it… except from when it comes to healthcare, unemployment, the housing crisis, the cost of living crisis, or general human rights, of course. Clarkson is a prime example of, and it pains me to say this as a huge fan of cars and grass (basically what a farm is), why the wealthy are disconnected from society. 

Whilst I highly doubt any farmers will be reading this piece - as they’ll all be pouring tea from their flasks in their tractors blocking the roads of central London - I hope that it clears up confusion on the new tax introduction. I am often very vocal about criticising the government, but this is not the place to do it. Let's hope that they do not crumble to the pressure of the few elite with loud voices, as this tax can do wonders for society. If they use it properly, that is.