MP leads call to rethink farm inheritance tax reforms

Montgomeryshire’s MP Steve Witherden has doubled down on his calls to delay controversial farming inheritance tax reforms, and has been backed by a report from The Welsh Affairs Select Committee, which he also sits on.

Mr Witherden stood up to his Labour UK Government by becoming the first Welsh MP to come out in opposition to its reforms to Agricultural Property Relief (APR).

The committee has released its report titled Farming in Wales in 2025: Challenges and Opportunities which welcomes the UK-EU veterinary agreement, calls for more support on trade after what he described as the ‘Tories’ harmful Australia and New Zealand deals’, and recommends a delay to the implementation of APR reform, followed by a Welsh-specific impact assessment.

Back in January, Mr Witherden delivered a well-received speech in Westminster Hall on APR, which received national media attention. He demanded the government look into raising the inheritance tax liability threshold and exempt farmers too late in life to plan for the changes.

Since then, he has taken a stand against Powys County Council’s policy of selling off tenant farms.

The Welsh Affairs Committee scrutinises UK Government policies that affect Wales, and its relationship with the Senedd.

Mr Witherden MP said: “Since I first spoke out against the APR reforms a year ago, we have had sensible proposals put forward by the NFU and the FUW to mitigate the impact on Welsh farmers.

“These include an alternative clawback mechanism and a transitional period which, taken together, could protect family farms, avoid penalising older farmers, and even increase revenue for the Treasury.

“I am all in favour of wealth taxes. If the aim of the policy was to crack down on the super-rich buying agricultural land to dodge tax, it would be a noble one. But the threshold is too low and so family farms will be caught in the crossfire.

“The Welsh Affairs Select Committee is now calling to delay the implementation of the reforms in the absence of a Wales-specific impact assessment. I support this call.

“Past that, I would like to see the UK Government make real efforts to identify how the reforms will affect Welsh farmers via an impact assessment, and then properly engage with them to get the policy into a place where it can actually achieve its stated aims.”