Legal battle over Labour’s inheritance tax reliefs set for March hearing
The legal challenge to proposed changes to agricultural property relief (APR) and business property relief (BPR) has been listed for an urgent two-day hearing next month.
The proposed changes to APR and the BPR represent one of the biggest shifts in UK IHT policy in decades, following the government’s initial increase of the threshold to £1m. But after a year of backlash from rural communities, in December the government did a partial U-turn, raising the threshold to £2.5m from £1m, effective April 2026.
A judicial review challenged the plan, arguing that the government allegedly acted unlawfully by failing to follow its 2011 ‘tax consultation framework’.
The legal action was filed by farmers Thomas Martin and George Martin of the campaign group Farmers and Businesses for Fair Tax Relief, and the professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal.
‘Flawed consultation process’
With law firm Collyer Bristow on the ticket, the group is seeking a declaration that the consultation process was flawed and breached ‘good governance’ rules.
Last month, the High Court green-lit an urgent hearing on this matter, and now the case is listed for a two-day hearing on 17 to 18 March.
Normally, judicial review cases are heard by a single judge, but in this case it will be heard by a Divisional Court, a panel of senior judges, which will decide its outcome.
With constitutional issues on the table, the Speaker of the House of Commons was granted permission to intervene in the case.
James Austen, partner at Collyer Bristow, said: “The issues raised in this judicial review are profound: they concern the standards by which Government should have consulted before implementing reforms with profound consequences for families and businesses across the country.
We welcome the decision to convene a senior multi-judge panel and look forward to presenting the claimants’ case in full at the Royal Courts of Justice in March.”