Councillors are backing farmers in their campaign against the Government’s planned inheritance property tax.
West Devon Borough Council agreed during a debate to urge the Government to reconsider its proposal to introduce a 20 per cent Agricultural Property Tax on farm inheritance, as announced in the last Budget.
The support comes after farmers from throughout the country drove their tractors into Westminster this week to keep up their pressure on MPs and ministers. This came a few weeks after 10,000 of them staged a mass demonstration within sight of the Houses of Parliament while representatives took part in a planned formal lobby of their own MPs nearby.
Farmers claim the tax would jeopardise the predominantly small farms which make up the farming industry in West Devon, especially on Dartmoor, and throughout the country. This would happen because the tax could only be paid if farmers, typically asset rich but cash poor, sold part of the land they are passing onto their families.
This could make the land uneconomical to be farmed on a small scale, with only large landowners able to afford to the land, with no guarantee that it would continue to be used to produce food. A consequence could be the country relying more on imported food.
At a full council meeting of West Devon Borough Council on Tuesday, December 10, members unanimously agreed to write to the Chancellor and the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs urging them to reconsider.
Councillors will also ask the Government to significantly change the planned bill because of the “potentially devastating impact on rural communities and food security”.
Cllr Holly Greenberry-Pullen, who proposed the motion, said: “This change will affect West Devon due to the number of small working family farms that are often passed down through generations.
“The value of their land and assets may not equate to their financial ability to pay this exorbitant rate of inheritance tax they will be liable for. Many farmers already need second jobs to support their income.”
Rural communities and related businesses would be ‘devastated’ by the possible loss of family farms: “The loss of farms who may be taken over by large hedge fund companies, would have a negative impact on the rural and ecological stewardship that farming based knowledge and management offers the area.”
Cllr Mandy Ewings, council leader, said: “I’m really pleased that all our councillors united to support a common cause.
“Farmers are the backbone of our communities in West Devon and custodians of the environment. It is only right that we demonstrate that we stand with them and recognise the part they play in supporting our food security, the local economy and protecting biodiversity.
“I will now do all I can to get our voice heard in Westminster.”
The council also agreed to advocate for ‘meaningful engagement’ between Westminster, farming organisations, and rural councils to develop local policies that support, rather than penalise, the West Devon farming sector.
The Government and the farmers disagree on the numbers of farms affected by the planned tax, with the Treasury saying there would be far fewer than claimed by the National Farmers’ Union.