Farmers say "if only I could die now" to avoid inheritance tax - Mont MP calls for elderly exemption - video Dailymotion

Watch Farmers say "if only I could die now" to avoid inheritance tax - Mont MP calls for elderly exemption - Tindle News on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00Can I implore the Minister to look at an exemption for farmers who, at the risk of sounding macabre,

00:06but to make myself clear, are too late in life to plan for this proposed change.

00:12I hope the Minister and the Chair can forgive my emotion when you sit with an elderly farmer

00:17and his wife, and with both fighting back the tears, they tell you, if only I could

00:23die now, if only there was some kind of pill I could take now so that my children won't

00:28have to worry about this. It does have a really profound effect on you.

00:33Let me be clear. I support progressive taxation to ensure that the wealthiest pay their fair

00:39share towards the upkeep of our society. In the 21st century, we see individual plutocrats

00:45and super-wealthy multinationals buying up agricultural land to avoid paying inheritance

00:51tax with no intention of using it for farming. This reduces our farmed land, which we can

00:57ill-afford when we have a fast-growing population in an unstable world.

01:02Can I respectfully request that the Minister considers raising the threshold? If this policy

01:08is to target those who buy farmland solely to dodge inheritance tax, then let's make

01:13it so. Raise the threshold and actually increase the rate for people like that so that no family

01:21farm is affected.

01:22Passing assets at the point of selling rather than at the point of passing to another generation

01:29would be a fairer measure to keep family farms. These organisations, these experts could have

01:35proposed these solutions before the Government made its decision, underlying again the importance

01:40of proper consultation with stakeholders. Every farmer deserves the right of the security

01:47of the farm they own or rent. Farms are not businesses, they are family legacies, vital

01:54for our rural economy and key to preserving our Welsh-speaking culture. Plaid Cymru supports

02:00closing loopholes that allow billionaire landowners to avoid paying their fair share, but this

02:05one-size-fits-all approach ignores the unique challenges of Welsh farming. That's why it's

02:12so important that the UK Government implements a Wales-specific impact assessment that reflects

02:19the realities of agriculture in Wales.