Small Farms Could Pay 159 Percent of Profits in Inheritance Tax: Landowners’ Group

Small family farms could be forced to pay up to 159 percent of their profits to pay inheritance tax bills, the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) has said. The CLA said on Tuesday that despite assurances from the new government that small farms would be unaffected by changes to inheritance tax, modelling conducted by the group said it could be a “death sentence” for many small and medium-sized farms. According to the analysis, a typical 200-acre arable farm with an expected annual profit of £27,300 would have an inheritance tax liability of £435,000, and if spread over a decade would mean the farmer allocating 159 percent of profits every year to cover the bill. The CLA said that in order to pay that bill, inheritors could be forced to sell 20 percent of their land....