High Court grants urgent hearing on Labour’s inheritance tax overhaul Legal The High Court has green-lit an urgent hearing at the High Court over the government’s inheritance tax raid on agricultural assets and family firms. The proposed changes to agricultural property relief (APR) and business property relief (BPR) represent one of the biggest shifts in UK inheritance tax (IHT) policy in decades, following the government’s initial [...]
Why business owners are telling the next generation to give up on Britain Opinion Despite the government’s lofty pledges to be the “start-up hub of the world,” confidence has fallen so low that only 17 per cent of owners would advise a young entrepreneur to start their business in the UK today, says Matthew Elliott When entering government, Sir Keir Starmer stated that wealth creation would be his “number [...]
Lawyers warn farmers: Labour’s U-turn on IHT threshold “not an all-clear” Legal Lawyers warned that, despite Labour’s U-turn on the inheritance tax relief threshold for farms, many agricultural families may still be impacted, and significant tax burdens may remain for some estates. In a whiplash U-turn, the Labour government revealed on Tuesday that, after a year of backlash from rural communities, it would increase the Agricultural and [...]
The last harvest? How tax changes are impacting British farming September 8, 2025 Britain's food security hangs in the balance as agricultural land is lost to pay inheritance tax bills, writes Sarah Jordan.
Inheritance tax nets record £6.7bn before Budget raid July 31, 2025 The Exchequer raked in a record £6.7bn in inheritance tax between 2022 and 2023, as a longstanding freeze on the tax-free threshold and ballooning asset prices meant more estates were sucked in to paying the unpopular levy. The overall earnings from inheritance tax rose by over £700m in the tax year 2022/3, official data showed, [...]
Record number of farms shut after inheritance tax grab July 25, 2025 A record number of farms closed in the year after the government announced it was ending a carve out that allowed farmers to pass down their estates without paying inheritance tax. According to official data, 6,365 agriculture, forestry and fishing businesses have shuttered over the past year, the highest number since the data started being [...]
Farmers demand judicial review of inheritance tax grab June 24, 2025 A group of farmers and business owners are seeking a judicial review of the government’s contentious inheritance tax raid, arguing there should have been a public consultation before the policy was confirmed. The claim, which was served to the Chancellor and HMRC on Tuesday, does not seek any concrete changes to the overhaul but alleges [...]
Brits prepared to legally challenge an ‘unfair’ inheritance May 27, 2025 Nearly four in ten Brits said they’d dispute a Will and potentially go to court if they thought the inheritance they received was unfair
200,000 jobs to go after Labour’s inheritance tax raid March 24, 2025 Family owned businesses and farms across the UK are cutting jobs, halting investment and selling assets to stay afloat in response to sweeping tax changes. According to research by CBI-Economics, commissioned by Family Business UK, the government’s move to cap business property relief (BPR) and reform agricultural property relief (APR) has triggered a wave of [...]
CBI boss warns Rachel Reeves’ farm tax will undermine growth push February 25, 2025 Speaking at the National Farmers' Union's (NFU) conference, Newton-Smith said there was no sector more "foundational" to the UK economy than farming.