Budget: Implications for Farming Communities

Debate between Daniel Zeichner and Catherine Fookes

Monday 4th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Daniel Zeichner]

I have been on an extended farm tour for the last five years, and I am sure it will continue.

[Catherine Fookes (Monmouthshire) (Lab)]

In my constituency of Monmouthshire, farmers are anxious and worried. Will my hon. Friend seek to reassure small family farmers by spelling out the figures? Last week, the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury said:

“these exemptions mean that if someone has no other assets and is passing it on to a direct descendant, a farm or farming business worth up to £2 million can be passed on without paying any inheritance tax at all.”—[Official Report, 31 October 2024; Vol. 755, c. 1036.]

[Daniel Zeichner]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. I am very reluctant to offer tax advice to anybody, but the advice I have been given is that the figure may even be more than that. I urge people to look closely at the detail, rather than jumping to the worst conclusion.