Council demands drop of farm inheritance tax plans

Members of Cornwall Council have called for the government to reconsider changes to inheritance tax rules for farmers.

From April 2026, farmers will be liable to pay 20% on the value of their land and assets worth more than £1m.

Members backed a motion at a meeting demanding those plans were dropped over fears it could put some local family farms out of business.

The government rejected that and insisted about three-quarters of farms would be unaffected by the changes, and the money raised would help fund public services.

Alan Jewell, a Conservative councillor and fourth-generation farmer in Falmouth, accused the government of not knowing what they were doing.

He said: "A lot of these farms are going to be caught by this tax and won't be able to afford to pay it.

"They should have gone for the big land investors not the genuine family farms.

"They need to up the threshold to around £6m, as that will give the family farms of Cornwall some way out."

Conservative members of the authority wore wellies for a demonstration before a meeting on Tuesday to debate the motion put forward by councillor Nick Craker.

He argued: "We want the government to listen to our farmers.

"We haven't got a lot of tools in our toolbox, but what we can do is amplify their voice and tell them we're on your side."

Councillors from across different parties voiced their support for local farmers.

Mebyon Kernow member Michael Bunney said the government had "got it wrong" and hoped the policy would be "re-jigged".

Non-aligned Councillor John Conway described the tax as an "attack on Cornwall and on the Cornish way of life".

Councillor Colin Martin, for the Liberal Democrats, urged the government to look at other ways of raising funds without harming farmers.

However, Labour councillor Laurie Magowan defended the change as introducing more fairness to the inheritance tax system.

Magowan urged the authority to instead focus on understanding the scale of the impact on Cornish farmers so it could target support to those affected.

Both HM Treasury and the Department for Food, Environment, and Rural Affairs have been approached for further comment.

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