Inheritance tax makes farmer want early death - MP

A Welsh Labour MP has called his government's plan to introduce inheritance tax on farms as "the straw that broke the camel's back".

Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr MP Steve Witherden said the changes "risk having a deeply detrimental effect on working family farms", with one elderly farmer and his wife telling him "'if only I could die now" to avoid the charge.

In the Senedd, Labour First Minister Eluned Morgan said she is concerned about the impact on farmers' mental health.

The plans involve a new 20% tax on farms being passed on in wills. UK ministers say that is half the normal inheritance tax rate, will not affect anything under £1m and farmers will have ten years to pay.

But Labour MP Witherden called on ministers to rethink the move and its impact on Welsh family farms by raising the threshold for paying the tax and exempting older farmers from the change, due to apply from April 2026.

He was speaking in a Plaid Cymru-led Westminster Hall debate, also calling on the UK government to change the policy.

He told MPs he was emotional because "when you sit with an elderly farmer and his wife, and both are fighting back tears, and they tell you 'if only I could die now, if only there were some sort of pill I could take now, so that my children won't have to worry about this' it does have a profound effect on you".

He urged his government to "consider raising the threshold - if this policy is to target those who buy farms solely to dodge inheritance tax then let's make it so".

The MP also called on ministers to "look at an exemption for farmers who... are too late in life to plan for this proposed change".

Witherden said he supports "progressive taxation to ensure the wealthiest pay their fair share towards the upkeep of our society".

"In the 21st century we see individual plutocrats and super-wealthy multinationals buying up agricultural land to avoid paying inheritance tax, with no intention to use it for farming.

"This reduces our farmed land, which we can ill-afford when we have a fast growing population in a unstable world.

"But the proposed changes to agricultural property relief for farmers comes off the back of this and more, and feels like the straw that broke the camel's back.

"Changes to agricultural property relief risks having a deeply detrimental effect on working family farms."

Last weekend Eluned Morgan said she wished there had been more consultation from the UK, telling the Powys County Times the policy's timing was "unfortunate".

On Wednesday the first minister expressed concerns about the impact on farmers' mental health and said there "absolutely needs to be a dialogue".

At question time in the Senedd, opposition politicians called on Labour to reverse the proposals.

Morgan said the Welsh government has raised it with ministers in Westminster "because I recognise that there is a disconnect between what the farmers' unions in Wales are saying and what the Treasury is saying".

Deputy First Minister Huw Irranca-Davies has written to UK ministers "reminding them of their commitments to consider the views of Welsh farmers", she added.

She cited HM Revenue and Customs figures, saying that the current tax rules disproportionately benefit big estates, which drives up land prices and makes it difficult for young farmers to get on the property ladder.

But she added the tax changes had "caused concern to many people across rural Wales".

A UK government spokesperson said its "commitment to Welsh farmers is clear with £337m allocated in the autumn budget to the Welsh government for farm support".

"We have met farmers and unions in Wales and understand the strength of feeling on the changes to agricultural property relief, but the reforms are expected to affect just 500 claims across the UK in 2026-27 with a much smaller number in Wales.

"Almost three-quarters of estates claiming the relief are expected to be unaffected.

"Our approach is fair and continues support for family farms, while we make the decisions necessary to fund the public services that farmers and families in rural communities rely on."

Additional reporting by Daniel Davies