I don't understand why farmers should be treated differently from the rest of us as far as inheritance tax is concerned. One of the reasons given is that they produce food. But that's their job! And as to them being 'guardians of the countryside', another trope, I don't see much evidence of that. Polluted rivers, feed bags all over the place, illegal burning of rubbish, tractor tyres piled up in yards. I could go on.
I understand that farmers have had a hard time of late but I think they're hitting out in the wrong place. They're sqeezed by the supermarkets because we're used to cheap food and don't want to pay for good, British produce. Our mindset needs to change. Farmers should be paid properly for their produce and rewarded for farming in and environmentally-friendly way. And we should be prepared to pay the price.
Good points Margaret! Even if this Budget change holds, it's worth noting that farmers are already being given a preferential rate of 20% as opposed to 40% for everyone else. Also, worth me pointing out that, last time we polled on this issue, 100% of those who voted were against farmers being given the inheritance tax relief. It will be interesting to see if the wall-to-wall coverage there has been recently has moved the dial with people on that.
I don't understand why farmers should be treated differently from the rest of us as far as inheritance tax is concerned. One of the reasons given is that they produce food. But that's their job! And as to them being 'guardians of the countryside', another trope, I don't see much evidence of that. Polluted rivers, feed bags all over the place, illegal burning of rubbish, tractor tyres piled up in yards. I could go on.
I understand that farmers have had a hard time of late but I think they're hitting out in the wrong place. They're sqeezed by the supermarkets because we're used to cheap food and don't want to pay for good, British produce. Our mindset needs to change. Farmers should be paid properly for their produce and rewarded for farming in and environmentally-friendly way. And we should be prepared to pay the price.
Good points Margaret! Even if this Budget change holds, it's worth noting that farmers are already being given a preferential rate of 20% as opposed to 40% for everyone else. Also, worth me pointing out that, last time we polled on this issue, 100% of those who voted were against farmers being given the inheritance tax relief. It will be interesting to see if the wall-to-wall coverage there has been recently has moved the dial with people on that.