Caps on Business and Agricultural Property Reliefs will hit family farms and businesses hard
Commenting on the caps on Business Property Relief and Agricultural Property Relief introduced in the Budget, Mark Andrews, partner at accountancy firm UHY BPR Heaton, comments:
“This is not just about farms, any business exceeding the £1m threshold could be left with big IHT bills. Shares in small companies and partnerships, although valuable are not easy to sell, sometimes impossible and they are often passed from one generation to the next. If there is a business partner involved, the consequences for the survivor could be dire through no fault of their own.”
“This change could cause the breakup and dissolution of family businesses all over the country, impacting job security and the backbone of the small business economy.”
“Moderately sized farms and businesses may get sold to larger concerns or deliberately broken up into smaller units. If you own a farm or business worth £1m, the chances are you aren’t investing in combine harvesters, new tractors and other expensive specialist equipment, causing a knock on effect to a some big parts of industry in this country.”