Welcome to the Spring edition of our Agricultural Journal
On behalf of the Agricultural and Landed Estates team, I am very pleased to present to you the Spring 2023 edition of Ryecroft Glenton’s Agricultural Journal.
Spring brings with it not only activity on the farm but also in the office, with tax changes announced on 15 March as part of Spring Budget 2023. Although it was something of a quiet Budget for the agricultural sector, I would like to draw your attention to two matters:
- The Government is publishing a “call for evidence and consultation” to explore both the taxation of ecosystem service markets and the potential expansion of Agricultural Property Relief (APR) from inheritance tax to cover certain types of environmental land management. This is needed and hugely welcomed as APR clearly needs to be updated to reflect the fact that our farmers are being asked to play an increasingly important role in the country’s environmental commitments. We are frequently asked questions by our clients about rewilding and biodiversity net gain. It is also somewhat overdue considering that the Government’s roll out of Environmental Land Management Schemes to replace the Basic Payment Scheme is already well underway.
- The Government is also using this call for evidence as an opportunity to explore a recommendation in the Rock Review to restrict the application of 100% APR to land subject to a Farm Business Tenancy of more than eight years, or an old-style Agricultural Holdings Act tenancy. The thinking here is presumably that this will encourage longer tenancies which should provide tenants with the time and security to implement environmental schemes. However, this does somewhat go against existing APR legislation which in part rewards land that had vacant [or near vacant] possession.
As well as a Budget roundup, the articles that follow include an update on the Agricultural Transition Plan, some thoughts on reducing your tax bills in the face of rising farm profits and items to consider if you are stepping up as a partner within the family partnership business.
I hope you enjoy reading our Spring Agricultural Journal. Please do get in touch with one of our Agricultural and Landed Estates team if you would like to discuss any of the matters raised in this issue.
