Needless anxiety for farmers’ – Jim Allister reacts to Government’s inheritance tax shift
- Love Ballymena
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
North Antrim MP Jim Allister
The government’s decision to raise the inheritance tax relief threshold for farm holdings and business assets has been welcomed by Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) leader Jim Allister — but he has warned the change does not go far enough to protect farming families.
Reacting to today’s announcement that the Agricultural and Business Property Reliefs threshold will rise from £1 million to £2.5 million from April 2026, Mr Allister said the move represented a belated climbdown by ministers after months of pressure from the farming community.
“The Government’s uturn on Inheritance Tax for farm holdings is welcome, as far as it goes. The threshold should have been raised beyond £2.5m,” he said.
The North Antrim MP argued that the government had been forced into reversing its position after losing credibility on the issue.
“The Government lost the argument on this issue a long time ago, but arrogantly refused to move until now. At last the sustained pressure from the farming community and MPs who cared has paid off,” he said.
However, the North Antrim MLA warned that the uncertainty created by the original proposals had already taken a heavy toll on rural families.
“Meanwhile many farming families have been put through needless anxiety and worry,” he added.
Describing inheritance tax on farms as a “death tax”, Mr Allister said he would continue to press for further changes.
“It will be an ongoing battle to deliver more deserving farming families from this death tax.”
The government confirmed today (Tuesday 23 December) that the threshold at which 100% Agricultural Property Relief (APR) and Business Property Relief (BPR) applies will increase to £2.5 million per estate when the changes are introduced in April 2026.
Because the allowance is transferable between spouses or civil partners, couples will be able to pass on up to £5 million in qualifying agricultural or business assets before paying inheritance tax, on top of existing nil-rate bands.
Ministers said the revised approach followed extensive feedback from farmers and business owners after reforms were announced at Budget 2024, and would significantly reduce the number of estates affected by higher inheritance tax bills.
The Treasury estimates that the number of estates claiming agricultural property relief — including those also claiming business property relief — affected by the reforms in 2026–27 will halve from 375 to 185. Around 85% of estates claiming APR in that year are forecast to pay no more inheritance tax on their estates, with many families seeing bills cut by hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds said the changes were designed to protect ordinary family farms while ensuring fairness across the tax system.
“Farmers are at the heart of our food security and environmental stewardship, and I am determined to work with them to secure a profitable future for British farming.
“We have listened closely to farmers across the country and we are making changes today to protect more ordinary family farms. We are increasing the individual threshold from £1m to £2.5m which means couples with estates of up to £5m will now pay no inheritance tax on their estates.
“It’s only right that larger estates contribute more, while we back the farms and trading businesses that are the backbone of Britain’s rural communities.”
To implement the changes, the government will bring forward an amendment to the Finance Bill in January. The new framework will allow 100% relief on qualifying agricultural and business assets up to £2.5 million per estate, with 50% relief continuing to apply above that level.
A married couple or civil partners could pass on a farm worth up to £5.65 million tax free by combining two £2.5 million agricultural or business property allowances with two £325,000 nil-rate bands that can be transferred between them on death.
The government said it remains committed to making the tax system fairer by reducing what it described as overly generous reliefs for the largest estates, while continuing to recognise the importance of farms and businesses to rural communities and the wider economy.
The cost of the changes will be assessed by the Office for Budget Responsibility and published in the next forecast.
Further details on the reforms are available in the government’s explainer: