NFU rejects Treasury claim that 72% of farms won’t pay inheritance tax

Union says Defra figures show far more farmers will be hit by budget proposal and warns of ‘militant protest’ to come

The government argument that just one-third of farmers will be affected by the new inheritance tax rules is in direct conflict with data produced by the its own environment department, according to the head of the farmer’s union, as the row over inheritance tax for farmers continued.

The announcement in Rachel Reeves’s budget last week of plans to remove the Agricultural Property Relief inheritance tax exemption from farms worth more than £1m has been met with a storm of fury from across the farming industry and suggestions of “militant protest”.