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  • 3 months ago
Tax changes are set to take place in April.
Transcript
00:00UK farmers have been protesting again in response to the much debated inheritance tax.
00:07The strike comes because the government is changing how inheritance tax applies to farms
00:14and they say it threatens the future of family farming.
00:19For decades, most farms could be passed down to the next generation without inheritance tax
00:26because of special reliefs recognising that farms are businesses and not cash savings.
00:33However, under new rules coming in from April 2026, those reliefs will be capped,
00:40meaning farms worth over a million pounds could face a 20% inheritance tax bill on the excess.
00:48But farmers say the policy misunderstands how farming actually works,
00:53which is why they've taken to the streets in protest.
00:58Earlier this year, I spoke to farmers at a protest. Here is what they had to say.
01:03The government fundamentally doesn't understand the farming culture of the UK.
01:06People farm right up until the day that they die.
01:09They are cash poor, they're barely making profit, particularly those who are tenant farmers.
01:13So if you want to understand farming, come talk to us. That's all we want.
01:18We'll talk to you about how much everything costs,
01:20the rules and regulations that they're implementing that have real effect on us and the costs as well.
01:27Who wouldn't be here? If you're not here, then you don't want to be fed.
01:31It's as simple as that.
01:33I mean, the farmers keep us alive.
01:37They don't just do cattle or meat.
01:44They are arable farmers as well.
01:47And this government is spending money in Europe to farmers to bring food here.
01:52Why?
01:54When we've got perfectly good farmers here that feed the nation.
01:59And this inheritance tax is an abomination.
02:03How much money is that going to raise?
02:05Not at all.
02:06So I'm here today because I feel very strongly that this agricultural property relief,
02:14which has been taken away from us, is a very unfair tax.
02:19Farming is having a very difficult time at the moment.
02:23We've had two years of very wet weather, which has made life very difficult for farming.
02:30Not making any money at the moment.
02:32It's a real struggle.
02:33So the idea that we're taking away the agricultural property relief will mean that for most farmers,
02:41they will have to sell up their land in order to pay it.
02:46What job are they going to do?
02:48They've been brought up on the farm.
02:49So it's the only thing they really know, keeping the nation fed.
02:55So what job are they going to do if they lose their farm?
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