Meetings between UK government ministers and representatives from UK farming unions on Tuesday led to no change of course around planned changes to inheritance tax.

Ulster Farmers’ Union president William Irvine said the Treasury had shown “utter disregard” for the concerns raised by farming families.

During the meetings, the farmer representatives suggested other tax raising measures instead of the planned £1m limit on agricultural and business property relief.

This includes a so-called clawback tax, where inheritance tax would only be due on agricultural holdings if the property was sold within a certain time period after the previous owner’s death.

“It appears that the government is set on pressing ahead with its damaging policies, dismissing all reasonable proposals without discussion,” Irvine said.

The farming unions met with Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, James Murray, and Food Security Minister Daniel Zeichner in London.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, who announced the changes to inheritance tax last October, has so far refused to meet with farmer representatives.

“Tuesday’s meeting felt like nothing more than a box-ticking exercise designed to give the illusion of consultation, without any genuine intention to listen or change course,” Irvine said.

Letter to MPs

There was a strong indication late last week that the UK farming union’s meeting with James Murray from the Treasury would not bear fruit.

In a letter to MPs on the NI Affairs Committee, Murray effectively dismissed the key arguments and proposals on inheritance tax that have been put forward by farmer representatives.

“The Government believes its approach gets the balance right between supporting farms and fixing the public finances in a fair way,” the Labour MP said.

He was also dismissive of DAERA analysis which suggests almost half all NI farms, covering 80% of total farmland, could be impacted by inheritance tax changes.

Murray said DAERA’s figures do not consider how many farms are owned by more than one person, as inheritance tax reliefs apply to each individual and not at a farm level.

“If a couple jointly own a farm, then at the point they pass away, each of them can benefit from the full allowances and agricultural property relief (and/or business property relief) on their half of the assets,” he said.