FURIOUS farmers are ready to “go militant” over Rachel Reeves’ new tractor tax, the National Farmers Union boss has warned.
Tom Bradshaw insisted British farms are in real jeopardy from the Government’s 20 per cent tax on properties over £1 million.
Elliott FranksNFU President Tom Bradshaw[/caption]
The end of the trade ban could mean a profit of £127million for British farmersGetty – Contributor
He slammed Treasury figures as “wildly off” , saying nearly two-thirds of farms will be hit by the inheritance tax raid – far more than the 27 per cent claimed.
The NFU chief’s warning came right after a heated meeting with Environment Secretary Steve Reed earlier this morning.
The Cabinet Minister had hoped the talks would ease tensions and reassure farms about their concerns.
But as he emerged from the meeting, Mr Bradshaw said: “We fully dispute the figures the Treasury has been using and we’ve played back Defra’s own figures.
“So, the Treasury is saying only 27 per cent of farms will be within scope of these changes, Defra’s own figures suggest that two-thirds of farms will be in scope.
“How they can have that wide a discrepancy within Government is quite unbelievable.”
Calling on ministers to swiftly U-turn on the tax raid, he said: “There’s certainly no resolution today, we’ve made very passionately our perception clear: that this tax change is completely unfair.”
The NFU boss also warned of of unprecedented anger in the industry, saying: “I have never seen the weight of support, the strength of feeling and anger that there is in this industry today.
“Many of them want to be militant.
“Now we are not encouraging that in any way shape or form but government need to understand that there is a real strength of feeling behind what this change means for the future of family farming in this country.
“We’ll wait to hear from government and treasury and see if we can get to a resolution.”
The Chancellor yesterday doubled down on her claim that only a “very small number” of farms will be hit by her changes.
She claimed in “most cases” a farm worth £3million can be passed on without paying any tax.
She told the BBC: “After that the tax rate for inheritance tax for agricultural property is 20 per cent compared to 40 per cent that everyone else pays, and you can pay that over a ten-year period interest-free…
“I don’t think it is affordable to carry on with a relief like that when our public finances are under so much pressure.”