Temperatures remain high in the agriculture sector regarding the UK Government’s changes to Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief; with clear concern over the impact these changes could inflict on farms and rural communities across Wales, as well as domestic food production.

Last week, as the independent voice for Welsh family farms, the Farmers’ Union of Wales President, Ian Rickman met with Treasury officials in London to highlight the significant questions and concerns regarding the far-reaching changes to inheritance tax, as well as the emotional toll the changes were having on Welsh farmers.

The meeting followed substantial lobbying by the FUW regarding the changes, including extensive correspondence with the Prime Minister, Treasury Minister James Murray MP and an evidence submission to the Welsh Affairs Committee.

The Prime Minister had previously insisted that the "vast majority" of farmers will not be affected by the changes, with the Treasury previously claiming it expects around 500 estates across the UK to be affected by the changes each year.

Alongside other sector stakeholders and businesses, the FUW has raised significant concerns over the reliability of these figures, with previous analysis by the FUW suggesting as many as 48% of Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) recipients in Wales may be impacted by the new Inheritance Tax proposals.

More recent analysis from the CAAV suggested that 200 Welsh farms will have an Inheritance Tax liability arising from the reduced benefit of APR and BPR each year - equating to over 6,000 affected Welsh farming taxpayers over a generation.

As well as questioning the Treasury’s figures, we also highlighted many of the proposals the FUW has put forward as an alternative to amend the government’s changes to better safeguard family farms and the UK’s own food security.

These proposed changes include the principle that farming / agricultural assets should not be taxed when passed from one generation to another for farming themselves or letting to another farming family. However, if a generation decides to sell those assets, those assets should be taxed at the point of selling.

These pragmatic changes would help protect genuine family farms, as well as addressing any loopholes that currently exist within the APR and BPR legislation. Regrettably, it seemed these arguments fell on deaf ears, with a dismissive response to our arguments and willingness to work collaboratively with the UK Government.

As we have seen in Wales over the past twelve months, compromise and collaborative working on contentious issues such as the Sustainable Farming Scheme, can help secure better outcomes. Despite last week’s setback, we remain willing to work with the Treasury to amend this ill-thought-out policy, and will continue to argue our case in the hope the government will at some point start listening and do the right thing.