Farmer says confidence in industry lost over tax

Will Hitchcock runs his farm alongside his sister Katherine (left) and mother Liz (right)

A farmer has said confidence among those in the industry has "dropped off a cliff" over the introduction of inheritance tax and called on the government to act.

Will Hitchcock runs a farm in Claydon, near Ipswich, alongside his family and believes the future of farming will be at risk following the changes.

He is one of thousands of farmers protesting outside Westminster against government plans to introduce tax to pay on inherited agricultural assets worth more than £1m.

Peter Prinsley, Labour MP for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket, explained the change was necessary to help "put the country right".

The Labour government proposed in its recent Budget that from April 2026, inherited agricultural assets worth more than £1m, which were previously exempt, will be subject to inheritance tax at 20% - half the usual rate.

Mr Hitchcock helps run Hitchcock Farms Ringshall and his family have been farming in the area since 1762.

"We're in a situation where we don't really know what the next few months, let alone years, have got in store for us," he said.

"There seems to be a huge lack of incentive from the government to support homegrown produce, which is critical.

"The confidence in the industry has dropped off a cliff and quickly the government need to do something otherwise the future of homegrown produce is at stake."

David Wolfe believes some farmers could pass their farms over earlier than planned to mitigate the issue

David Wolfe runs Wakelyns Farm, an organic agroforestry farm near Fressingfield, and agrees with the government's approach.

"I certainly think the problem has been overstated by some of the people who are protesting about it," he said.

"Somebody who inherits a business worth £5m normally expects to pay inheritance tax on that and it's not obvious to me why in 2024 somebody inheriting £5m of land should be any different.

"It's a basic fairness question."

Mr Wolfe suggested farmers retire and pass over their farms to children ahead of their deaths to help mitigate the issue.

While his farm is too small to be affected by the government's plan, he was interested to see if it allowed new entrances into farming, or younger people taking over their farms earlier than usual.

Labour MP for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket said he understood the concerns of farmers

Labour MP Prinsley said he understood both sides of the argument.

"It's quite easy to understand why the farmers are so annoyed by this because it seems it has come out of the blue that they're going to be suddenly faced with this very large tax bill and they'll have to think carefully about how best to mitigate it," he said.

Prinsley said he expected some farmers to take out loans against the value of the farm to pay for the tax, but he did not want to see farms closing.

"I'm sorry that this has happened but this is what the government has decided to do to try and put the economy right," he added.

"As the economy improves and as the government's measures start to improve everybody's lives, what we'll have to hope is that people can see this was the right thing to do."