And driving down to london in their £100K plus tractors, taking a day off work when they are all skint
A farmer says if she were to die, her children would have to find £500,000 in inheritance tax. Clare Wise's family have had Manor Farm, near Darlington, County Durham, since 1875, but she fears changes introduced in last month's Budget mean she will not be able to pass it onto her daughters. "You wouldn't ask a plumber to sell his tools and keep on working, but that's what we're being asked to do," she said. The government says two people who own a farm jointly will be able to pass on land and property valued up to £3m tax free. But that will not benefit Ms Wise, who is the sole owner of her mixed farm at Little Stainton. She said there was "no money for a big inheritance bill" and "our future is being ripped out from under us".
So that’s a £4m farm then. So given she can gift to her daughters and not pay a penny of tax (if that’s below a threshold or more than 7 years prior to her death) then I’m sure she can find a way to alleviate things - particularly given her current age. Besides, 50k a year tax on an £4m asset doesn’t sound egregious to me.
Most the public were raised on and raised their kids on tinned and packaged food which often barelysaa resembles food because they cannot afford proper food. I have no idea where you are getting the idea that the public expect quality for peanuts. Fantasy land. People have been eating unnatural food for generations now.
Can only speak for myself, but I am prepared to pay for food that I know about. My meat comes from my local butcher who I have known for over 20 years. I know the local farmers he uses. Veg from the green grocer whenever I can, or my garden as much as poss. Failing that the supermarket, but I note the price hike. Fruit the same. We try to balance it out by using costco for bulk buying washing poweder, toilet rolls etc etc. Imo paying more for natural food stuffs is worthwhile. I have sympathy for those using food banks of course. And some cant afford a butchers price. But for those who can it is worthwhile imo to go out of your way to avoid supermarkets.
Not really the same thing but on a related note, I think we should all be closer to our food and respect where it came from more. Ate our own lamb (regularly, not just a single lamb) when I was a kid (perhaps this will explain my support for farmers to some people and also to say the assumption that supporting farmers is anti-working class or kow-towing to the 'toffs' demonstrates a lack of understanding of rural life) and it gives you a healthy understanding and respect for what you're eating and what it is. I feel a great affinity for the Sami tradition of respecting any animal that you kill by making use of all of it and not wasting anything. I think too many people don't make the connection.
Still rich, though. If my kids have to pay 40% IHT on any asset I give to them over a value of 500k (if I can even get there) l’m not gonna be shedding a tear for someone having to pay 20% on favourable terms on £2.5m of their £4m total asset value. If they’re a struggling for cashflow, do what the rest of us have to do - liquidate a portion of their assets.
I can only speak for myself but I've said nothing of the sort. This thread is specifically about the most wealthy farmers some of whom are quite clearly toffs ... or self-made toffs like Clarkson who appear to see themselves a 'gentlemen farmers'. Who's saying supporting farmers is anti-working class? As far as the kowtowing is concerned, that's a different concept entirely and nothing to do with understanding rural life ... ... you're just lumping everyone who has a farm in together, which is as daft as saying everyone who has a house is the same. Buying up neighbouring smaller farms is a common practice particularly in areas like the Cotswolds where I worked for a family at Notgrove who own the entire village. There are farms, in the estate, which have been bought and left idle which is like putting money into a high yield savings account. Perhaps they are 'cash poor' but that's done deliberately in many cases.
If you've said nothing of the sort then your conscience is clear and there's no need for you to wade in, is there?
Wading in, get a grip man, all I've done is posted about the thread topic in answer to something said on here. That's how chat forums work. If you're quoting someone you should say so instead of vaguely lumping people in ... ... as you've done with all the farmers from the toffs to real working class farmers.
While farms have to follow the same rules as other businesses, they operate quite differently to most other businesses, which I would hazard a guess (based on limited but some knowledge) means that liquidating assets might have different impacts to those on another business. Someone who knows more about farming might be able to clarify. But I think the rules around inheritance tax on farmland were brought in or changed (in the 90s?) in part in acknowledgement of those differences to other businesses.
I used to help our local farmer out in Weardale when I was a young un. Lambing season, bailing seaon etc. Bloody hard work it was as well. I learned a tiny bit about rearing animals for food and it is quite a labour of love for those I worked for. Mind that was moons ago. A friend now farms cattle and he wouldnt do anything else in the world. He is far from rich, at least in monthly income terms. But he loves what he does and what it means. Mind you I doubt he is on a tractor protesting, his tractors should be in a bloody museum
It's still fundamentally handing over a £4m asset, though. So either they find a way to pay what they owe (which is still proportionally less than anything any other person in the country would need to pay) or they accept that they cannot retain the same asset value. And that's only if this person in question fails to use any number of perfectly legal ways of protecting herself from every penny of due tax (all of which would be acceptable to someone who is merely looking to hand down a farm through the generations). Farmers retain tax protection over and above that which is available to you or I. It's a slightly worse deal than that which was available previously, but given that has been the reality for the rest of us for many years, my heart pumps purple piss if I'm honest.
We didn't have a whole farm, just a bit of land suitable for keeping an economically viable flock of sheep for a bit of extra income. It's a bloody daft thing to do as a sideline as its so labour intensive for little return. I used to help out on the local farms too- haymaking, dipping. Hard work but a good experience.
Fair enough. Plenty of other industries receive tax breaks and incentives in various ways to make sure that they can keep going. Farms were given this one for much the same reason. Personally, I think there is value in farms like the one in the example from earlier receiving this kind of protection so I can see why they are concerned.
It's back to symptom rather than cause, though. Inflationary pressures are created in no small part by IHT policies. The fundamental issue appears to be that farming does not pay sufficiently. So that means the asset value is artificial - or at the very least not connected to the intrinsic value of the asset as farm land. So solve that problem (via subsidy or rebalancing real asset value) rather than maintaining the conditions that got us here in the first place.
