Wiltshire farms risk being undermined by tax changes, says Council Leader
From April next year, assets worth over £1m will face 20% inheritance levies
Last updated 5th Mar 2025
Farming in Wiltshire risks being undermined by Government plans to impose a 20% inheritance tax on farms with agricultural assets worth over £1million.
Wiltshire Council Leader, Cllr Richard Clewer, is set to write to No. 10, expressing his dismay at the proposals, which he has called 'an attack on the heart of Wiltshire'.
"I think it isn't too far to say that this government does not understand rural England," Cllr Clewer said, saying that rural service deliver grants have been cut along with Council funding.
He told us that the perception of farmers being 'jolly and wealthy' people making vast sums of cash off the land is misplaced.
He said: "For most farmers, it's an industry where their assets may be very valuable in terms of land. Some of the equipment they have to use is very expensive, but the returns are really low."
Cllr Clewer added most farms can't afford to pay the tax through profit, which would likely see land being sold off, making farms unviable.
"If you're running a business that's only just about breaking even and then suddenly you're faced with having to sell a chunk of that that makes the business completely unviable, you might as well just sell all of it. It's undermining farming," the Council Leader said.
The council is set to carry out an impact analysis to see how the changes will affect farms in Wiltshire.
The Government claims that the majority of farms won't be hit, but Cllr Clewer disputes that notion: "In many cases the the value of the House alone is enough to put you pretty much at that threshold," he said.
Cllr Clewer added: "When you start adding on the value of land and the value of agricultural equipment, I think we will find that the vast majority of farms in Wiltshire will be caught by the million pound threshold."
He insisted that there is no point just complaining, but rather gathering clear evidence of the harm the changes could lead to in order to get government officials to listen.
Cllr Clewer believes that smaller farmers could be forced off the land as a result of the new taxes, which could see land end up with wealthy people who have little or no interest in farming, which could wipe out and already reduced level of rural employment.
He added that with pressure on food security increasing, it's vital that steps are taken to enhance and protect food production.
He said: "As we face the impacts of global warming, of population pressure, of migration, people are moving away from the equator, which will become increasingly arid, it places greater strain on food production, greater strain on population everywhere."