Over half of farmers who acquire from tax loophole have ‘no involvement in farming in any approach’

Farmers in tractors staged another protest over the government’s inheritance tax changes – despite fresh claims large landowners are the big winners from current rules.

Hundreds descended on London, with go-slow demonstrations on dual carriageways in a number of other places. It marked a second day of action in the wake of Rachel Reeves’s Budget announcement that farms worth more than £1million will pay 20% inheritance tax from 2026. Farmers called the change “another kick in the teeth”, while some backed cutting off food supplies in the new year as “wake up call”.

It came as MPs scrutinising the shake-up heard more than half those claiming a lucrative tax break to avoid death duties have “no involvement in farming in any way”.

The 20% inheritance tax rate – half that for everyone else – replaces two types of relief worth up to 100%.

Dr Arun Advani, director of Centre for the Analysis of Taxation, told the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee: “Less than half of the estates who are claiming agricultural relief have any income from farming anywhere in the five years before death.

“About 44% of the claims are from people you would think of as farmers.” The others, he said, are “a mix of people who own a house and some pony paddocks or who own land and let it out to a lot of people but are not involved in any farming in any way.”

The Mirror revealed this month how a quarter of all England’s farmland belongs to just 2,500 owners. The highly respected Institute for Fiscal Studies says those paying more tax under the changes would be heavily concentrated among large wealthy landowners.

But Dr Advani warned, at 20%, the inheritance tax rate still made it attractive for the wealthy to buy up agricultural land, pushing up prices for genuine smaller family farmers who want to work the land themselves.

Jeremy Moody, secretary and adviser at Central Association for Agricultural Valuers, added that the tax changes would not discourage companies from snapping-up farmland, adding: “It is only individuals who die.”

Tom Bradshaw, president of the National Farmers’ Union, claimed Ms Reeves had refused to meet. He told the committee: “We have written to the Prime Minister asking for a pause to consult.” Mr Bradshaw became emotional at one stage as he warned some ill or older farmers may take their own lives to avoid their estates being hit with inheritance tax.

Country Land and Business Association claims 70,000 farms could be affected annually but the government puts it at just 500.

Tractors hocking their horns drove around Westminster’s Parliament Square, many decorated with signs that read: “No farmers, no food” and “Save British Farming”.

Will Elliott, 50, drove his tractor three hours from his farm near Grafham, near Guildford in Surrey, to attend the protest. He said: “The industry is already down on its knees and this is just another kick in the teeth.”

Phil Cookes, 38, a farmer from the West Midlands, said his family faced selling off a large proportion of their land, adding: “It’s all been a bit too much.” Matt Cullen, one of the protest organisers, said: “This is a war we will win.”

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage turned up yesterday despite reports organisers did not want him to speak to try to make the event non-political.

Quizzed during Prime Ministers’ Questions, Sir Keir Starmer said: “I think everybody welcomes the £5billion over the next two years that we’ve put in the Budget.” He also pointed to a higher £3million inheritance tax threshold in some cases, adding “that means the vast majority of farmers will be unaffected.”