FARMERS in Fermanagh are fearing that the implementation of the inheritance tax proposals in the UK could “accelerate rural decline” in the county as the clock ticks down to the changes in April.
From April 2026, farms worth more than £1 million will face a inheritance tax rate of 20 per-cent, with calls increasing for the UK Government to reconsider their stance in a bid to save the farming sector.
The Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) and other representative bodies have been passionately lobbying the government to scrap the changes, and now Fermanagh and South Tyrone MP, Pat Cullen, pictured below, has added her voice to the opposition.
Like many local farmers, Ms Cullen has written to the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, calling for the government to abolish the proposed Farm Inheritance Tax Scheme.
“The imposition of this tax is nothing short of an attack on those families and on the continuity of farming as we know it,” explained Ms Cullen.
“If implemented, it will undermine succession, force the fragmentation of holdings, and accelerate rural decline.
“Farming families, who have safeguarded and sustained the land for centuries, will face the prospect of being taxed out of existence.”
Fermanagh farmers have been left very concerned following news of the changes to the tax, with almost half of the farms in the North set to be affected.
According to the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, more than 48 per-cent of farms in the North exceed the £1 million threshold.
It has also been reported that 80 per-cent of the total farmland and 90 per-cent of the region’s dairy cows fall within the scope of the farm inheritance tax changes.
In recent weeks, it has been reported that the UK Government is considering rising overall inheritance tax, in a bid to help the economy recover as pressure mounts.
The Fermanagh and South Tyrone MP feels that the changes, which are set to come into force next April, threaten to “jeopardise the very foundations” of the farming and food sector on the island.
“For food safety and security across these islands, this tax must be abolished,” added Ms Cullen.
“Family farms are the guarantee of safe, sustainable, and