Wilson welcomes clarification as 'good news' for farming families

Finance Minister, Sammy Wilson, has welcomed confirmation from HM Treasury that there are no plans to change the rules around Agricultural Property Relief (APR) and how it relates to conacre land.

The confirmation, received in a letter from Stephen Timms MP, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, follows intensive engagement between Mr Wilson, his officials and HM Treasury over recent weeks.

The Minister said: “In the wake of the McClean case, many farming families became anxious about the impact the ruling would have on them, with widespread fear regarding the continued availability of Agricultural Property Relief (APR).

“Today’s letter provides assurance from HM Treasury that the UK Government is not planning to withdraw Inheritance Tax APR from conacre land. Neither are there plans to change the rules around APR. I welcome the assurance from the Financial Secretary that guidance will be updated to ensure that the APR rules are clear.”

The Minister has highlighted the potential impact of this issue on the local farming community during his meetings with HM Treasury. Northern Ireland’s agricultural sector makes a contribution to the local economy that is almost three times greater than is the case at the UK level. In terms of regional employment, the proportion attributable to agriculture is double that of the UK as a whole.

The denial of Business Property Relief (BPR) on conacre let land was also discussed in detail at the meeting in late October with the Financial Secretary, where some of the potential economic distortions that will arise following the ‘McClean’ judgement were highlighted.

On this point, the Minister said: “The correspondence also provides us with a commitment that HM Treasury will examine, in detail, the issue of Business Property Relief and find a way forward.”

Prior to this latest meeting, the Finance Minister engaged with key stakeholders and gathered evidence to provide HM Treasury with real life examples of how the tax liability problem is affecting farmers locally. He said: “There has been resolution on some outstanding cases and HM Treasury has agreed to further dialogue on this point.”

The Minister concluded: “I intend to continue to work closely with HM Treasury in the coming weeks and months on the conacre issue. Today’s news, however, will provide re-assurance to many in our farming community who would have been affected by a change to APR.”

Notes to editors:

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2. The letter from Stephen Timms MP, Financial Secretary to the Treasury can be downloaded via the DFP website homepage in the right navigation under 'Most Recent publications'.