AS the Finance Bill approaches its Second Reading in Parliament next week (December 16), farmers and family business owners across the South West are facing an unprecedented crisis that threatens to destroy generations of rural enterprise and community investment.

The proposed changes to Agricultural Property Relief (APR) and Business Property Relief (BPR), announced in the Autumn Budget, will impose inheritance tax on family farms and rural businesses valued at over £1 million from April 2026.

While government ministers claim only the wealthiest will be affected, analysis by the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) shows that a typical 200-acre arable farm making a profit of £27,300 would face an inheritance tax liability of £435,000 – requiring 159% of annual profits each year if spread over 10 years.

The CLA's analysis suggests that many farms could be forced to sell up to 20% of their land just to meet the tax bill.

This would:

• Devastate investment in the rural economy, with uncertainty already stalling essential infrastructure projects

• Undermine food security by reducing productive farmland

• Destroy the long-term planning essential for environmental improvements and regenerative farming practices

• Break up family businesses that have sustained local communities for generations

Ann Maidment, the CLA’s Regional Director for the South West, warns: "Ministers say they're targeting people who buy farmland as a tax shelter, but whether through ideology, inexperience or a fundamental misunderstanding of how family businesses work, it is treating multigenerational businesses as a problem to be solved rather than the bedrock of long-term investment.”

Beyond the stark economics, the human impact on farming families has been severe. Business owners report that every family conversation now centres on death and tax, with the grieving process beginning while parents are still alive. The psychological toll of knowing that decades of stewardship and investment could be taxed out of existence is pushing families to breaking point.

Ann Maidment continued that Labour MPs must now choose to stand with government or with the people who voted for them – their constituents.

She added: “Many Labour MPs were elected on promises that the countryside was safe in their hands.

“They fought hard for rural seats, building trust with farming communities and rural business owners. But before they could deliver on those promises, the government announced these changes with no consultation.

“Now MPs face a stark choice: will they stand with the government that has undermined their election pledges, or will they stand with their constituents – the family businesses that have kept local economies going for generations?”

The CLA is urging local residents, farmers, and rural business owners to make their voices heard by writing to their MP immediately to tell them how the changes will affect their family, business and community and inviting them to visit their farm so they understand the human cost.

The CLA has now written to MPs across the region, including Perran Moon (Camborne and Redruth), Noah Law (St Austell and Newquay) and Jayne Kirkham (Truro and Falmouth), to highlight the consequences.

For more information about the inheritance tax changes and how to contact your MP, visit www.cla.org.uk