Farming & Rural Business Community articles

As the impact of the Budget 2024 changes sinks in, it is clear that asset transfers will feature heavily in the range of responses suggested to (or by) clients. Certainly, this is the case in some of the more imaginative proposals which have been suggested in social media! However, these “cunning plans” tend to ignore the impact of the various related party rules, which are intended to ensure that everyone is related to almost everyone to whom they might like to pass assets and hence market value is used instead of stated transaction value. It may therefore be useful to draw together the main ...

As the first sets of accounts for the 2024/5 financial year start crossing desks, it may be worth reconsidering the use of the cash basis, which is, of course, the new default position for unincorporated accounts. The switch was announced in 2023 and will apply from 2024/5. Those wishing to continue on an accruals basis will now need to opt out on the Self Assessment return.

The changes to Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief, announced in the Budget on 30 October 2024, bring life insurance back into sharp focus.

As the furore over the Inheritance Tax changes in the 2024 Budget continues to rage, and practitioners dust off their tax planning archives to find ways to help the next generation, an old and sometimes overlooked tool is coming back to prominence.

I haven’t seen a period like the last eight months since starting in practice.

Since most of the articles in these newsletters tend to be of more general application (and have been somewhat downbeat recently), it is encouraging to hear that the poultry industry in the UK seems to be performing well.

Since my last ‘view from the Chair’, I have moved from dealing with clients and their pre-budget panic and worries to now dealing with the reality of the first Labour Government’s Budget in 14 years. The Government has shown that they intend to raise money from the business community to fill the ‘black hole’. The changes announced have blindsided many and seems to be contrary to the Government’s desire to drive economic growth via private investment.

Recent changes to HMRC working practices seem to have thrown up an anomaly where there are one or more trades (some of which carry brought forward losses) and employment or pension income. Immediately after the submission of a SAR, the total self-employment income, without allowing for future loss reliefs, is taken into account in coding, which has the effect of restricting personal allowances. The problem can be rectified within the taxpayer account but it is not straightforward.

Behind the main Budget announcements, a few other matters of rural interest can be found.

In a largely unannounced move, the RPA have recently (5 November) paid out a compensation amount to holdings within areas affected by flooding last winter. The claims are calculated automatically and require no evidence of damage and no evidence of land remediation. You will find that clients have received letters similar to that copied below.