Protesters at a demonstration against farmer tax raid (Image: Getty)

The personal cost that farming families have endured will not be forgotten following the Government’s climbdown over inheritance tax, the Conservatives have warned.

Labour’s watered-down plans will see the relief threshold for farmers raised from £1 million to £2.5 million.

This comes after months of protests and warnings over farmers contemplating suicide to avoid the taxes as they pass their businesses from generation to generation.

 

Shadow environment secretary Victoria Atkins criticised the Government for making the announcement so close to Christmas, with Parliament in recess and currently unable to scrutinise it “properly”.

Speaking to Sky News on Wednesday, she said: “Whilst this is a welcome U-turn, nonetheless, it has come at a very, very high economic cost, because we know that business investment and business confidence has plummeted.

“This Government is overseeing record farm closures, but it’s also come at a huge personal cost as well, for many families, and that will not be forgotten, I suspect, by them.”

She added: “This being snuck out the day before Christmas Eve means that, of course, we haven’t had chance to scrutinise this properly in Parliament.”

The higher threshold, which will take effect in April, will allow spouses or civil partners to pass on up to £5 million in qualifying agricultural or business assets between them before paying inheritance tax – on top of existing allowances, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said on Tuesday.

Above that allowance, farmers will get 50% relief on qualifying assets and will pay a reduced effective rate of up to 20%, rather than the standard 40%.

The number of estates facing higher inheritance tax will be reduced from around 2,000 under the original plans to up to 1,100, hitting only the largest farms, according to the Government.

Farmers currently do not pay inheritance tax on agricultural and business assets which they pass on.

Under Labour’s initial proposal, the full 100% relief was to be restricted to the first £1 million of property.

The Daily Express’s Save Britain’s Family Farms crusade has campaigned for inheirtance tax to be scrapped.