M&S has urged new environment secretary Emma Reynolds to champion British farmers by reconsidering proposed alterations to inheritance tax relief for agricultural workers.
The move to scrap a decades-long inheritance tax exemption – termed Agricultural Property Relief – which permitted farmland to pass between generations without tax liability has triggered significant opposition across Britain, as reported by City AM.
“We support our farmers’ calls on the government to do more to support farming, and that includes supporting their call for a rethink on inheritance tax,” Alex Freudmann, managing director of M&S Food, told The Times.
M&S has backed appeals from the National Farmers’ Union to prolong consultation regarding proposed modifications to agricultural property relief and business property relief.
The retail giant has previously corresponded with Reynolds’s predecessor, Steve Reed, cautioning him of “doubt … that there was a genuine national commitment to increasing the domestic supply of food.”
A correspondence from Freudmann stated: “A clear and concrete target to increase the proportion of indigenous foods eaten in the UK that are grown in the UK would galvanise cross-government action.
“If it was set down in law, like targets around net zero or nature protection, it could also tilt the balance towards farmers and growers in decisions around planning or access to water. I hope to see a clear and concrete commitment to domestic food production.”
Official figures reveal that 6,365 businesses in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors have closed down over the past year, marking the highest number since records began in 2017.
The Chancellor argued that the relief was being exploited as a loophole by ultra-wealthy landowners to dodge the unpopular tax when she declared that the carve out would cease in April 2026, a move backed by several prominent economic think tanks.
However, this triggered a wave of protests nationwide, with farmers cautioning that it could lead to the demise of multi-generational farms in the UK and Labour’s political rivals labelling it ‘the family farm tax’.
City AM has reached out to The Treasury for a response.
