HALF of Northern Ireland farms could be affected by inheritance tax changes, the Department of Agriculture (DAERA) has said.
Last month, thousands of farmers protested in London over the plans from the Labour government which will impose inheritance tax on farms worth over £1m, with a 20% rate on assets above that threshold.
DAERA analysis also found that the changes could affect 80% of farmed land in Northern Ireland.
Taking into account residential property, farm buildings, machinery, livestock and land - it meant that average land value estimations increased from £15,000/acre to £21,000.
This increases the number of potentially impacted farms from a third to around half.
DAERA Minister Andrew Muir said the analysis painted “a worrying picture,” and said he stood with farmers calling for the changes to be abolished.
“Northern Ireland will be disproportionately impacted due to the makeup of our agri-sector and it cannot continue,” he said.
Mr Muir said the analysis questioned Treasury figures relating to 2021/22 claims for Agricultural Property Relief (APR) and Business Property Relief (BPR), and were a “major underestimation” of the impact.
“It is important to remember that these claims are from a period when the value of agricultural property and business property made no difference to inheritance tax liability as there was unlimited relief at 100%,” he said.
“I have serious concerns with their use to measure the impact of the changes announced in the Budget.
“The context will be very different (when the changes are introduced) from April 6, 202,6 with much more attention being given to agricultural and business property values.”
He added that a £2m limit which some, but not all, farms could use if they divided their assets between partners - would mean a quarter of farms would be affected, but this would still account for over half of the area farmed in Northern Ireland.
