AN ACCOUNTANT advising farmers in the local area has spoken out about the widespread ‘concern and anger’ at the Government’s new inheritance tax on farmers.

Annette Stone, who works for Azets in the South West, will be giving a seminar for farmers at Strawberry Fields in Lifton on Thursday, January 13.

“There’s a lot of concern and anger from farming clients – they’re reeling,” Annette said. “Farming isn’t just a trade or career, it’s the lifestyle and a history that has often been passed down for generations, so with the proposal of the changes to the availability of the inheritance tax reliefs, they feel that if they don’t do something, their livelihood will be taken away from them.

“Part of the frustration is also that what feels as not so long ago, farmers took stock of what was happening in the industry – the effect of foot and mouth disease, bird flu, and other challenges meant that many started to diversify by injecting cash or taking out loans to set themselves up with new income streams such as holiday lets, to make the farming element financially sustainable. With the rise of inheritance tax coupled with the changes to the Furnished Holiday Lets regime and other capital gains tax and IHT proposed changes, farmers feel that they’ve been through enough turmoil and are once again hit by the most recent government proposals.

“They are concerned that they will have no choice but to sell up their bloodline property and land, rather than following the centuries-old tradition of handing it on to kin, to avoid burdening their children with a hefty inheritance tax bill.

“There are no straightforward answers as we only have guidance currently – the Government has yet to give us the concrete details and the longer the delay, the more upsetting it is for farmers with modest holdings, especially those in more advanced years who want to put their affairs in order.

“Until the end of October, many farmers thought that their physical assets were protected from the Treasury if passed on to the next generation. That has been turned on its head since the Autumn Budget – they now feel at a loss at what steps to take to avoid losing what they and previous generations have cherished and nurtured. This is a highly emotive issue.

“Many farm enterprises, passed down through the ages, are family-run and struggle to turn a profit. This risks undermining the sustainability of family-run enterprises that have been built over generations, highlighting the broader impact of taxing assets that do not generate liquid cash.

“It’s crucial to consider the long-term effects on businesses and communities when designing tax policies – these changes to Agriculture Property Relief and Business Property Relief, coming into effect from April 2026, have left local farmers furious.”

Azets is running several seminars to support clients and the farming community through the changes. Upcoming locations include Strawberry Fields in Lifton on February 13. Registering is essential, at discover.azets.co.uk