The Reform UK leader wants the family farm tax to be ditched, as well as inheritance tax as a whole
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has urged farmers to continue protesting against inheritance tax on family farms and said he supports abolishing inheritance tax altogether.
Farage described inheritance tax as “horrible” and a “death tax”.
At a Farmers to Action campaign event on Monday, he encouraged farmers to continue protesting Labour’s farm tax, which will see a 20% inheritance tax rate on farms worth more than £1 million.
He said: “100 Labour MPs now represent rural seats – if they see local communities getting behind these families, they’re going to start getting scared, and they’re going to start putting pressure on No 10, and let’s face it, they’re in pretty big trouble already.”
Farage also advocated for “just getting rid of inheritance tax as a whole”.
“You’re basically taxing money that’s been taxed already as a death tax, and it’s horrible,” he said.
“People living in semi-detached houses in London are now dragged into inheritance tax,” he said, before suggesting that people can do seven-year planning, a strategy where people gift assets to reduce their inheritance tax liability.
“You can do seven-year planning and all the rest of it, but unlikely things happen. I honestly believe just getting rid of inheritance tax as a whole would be a good thing.”
A recent survey of 5,800 voters, carried out by the University of Bristol, found that the majority of voters support tax rises such as the farm tax and VAT on private schools being used to improve public services.
Research by the think tank Demo in 2023 found that three-quarters of people from all political backgrounds supported taxing inheritance.
The majority of people also said they would like to see the threshold for paying tax on inheritance lowered from £325,000, not increased.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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