Welsh farming representatives call for delay to IHT changes until impact assessment is published
13th November 2025
Welsh farming representatives have welcomed the cross-party House of Commons’ select committee report urging the UK government to delay its planned inheritance tax reforms.
NFU Cymru president, Mr Aled Jones, photo by NFU Cymru.
The House of Commons’ Welsh Affairs Committee has published a report following its inquiry into Farming in Wales in 2025: Challenges and Opportunities.
Among the report’s conclusions is a recommendation that the UK government must delay implementing its final reforms to Agricultural Property Relief (APR) and Business Property Relief (BPR) until an impact assessment has been published and scrutinised by the committee.
NFU Cymru president, Mr Aled Jones, said: “I am heartened that so much of the detail presented by NFU Cymru in its evidence to the inquiry, highlighting the significant concerns of members across Wales, has been reflected in the committee’s report, its conclusions and recommendations.
“Over the last 12 months, some of the most difficult and heart-rending accounts which have been shared with me involve elderly farmers or those with terminal illness. Many of these farmers have arranged their affairs on the basis that their estates would not be subject to inheritance tax, but now they stand to be disproportionately affected by this policy, as they simply do not have the time left to make alternative succession arrangements. I take comfort that the committee has also identified this as an area of concern.”
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Call for delay to APR and BPR reforms
Mr Jones added that the committee’s report challenges the Treasury’s assessment of the number of farms likely to be affected by the inheritance tax policy changes on the basis that these general indications of farm values are produced in the absence of key information concerning individual businesses, which could lead to a “misleading picture”.
“This lack of precision in the Treasury data is further compounded by the lack of Wales-level data. I remain firmly of the view that far more farms will fall into the scope of this new tax than the Treasury claims,” he continued.
NFU Cymru confirmed it “firmly supports” the committee’s recommendation to the UK government, calling for a delay to the APR and BPR reforms until a Wales-specific impact assessment has been published and scrutinised by the committee.
“We also concur with the recommendation for a revisiting of all the available data relating to farm ownership in Wales to develop a more detailed understanding of the potential impact that changes to inheritance tax may have on farmers in Wales. I urge the UK government to heed this advice rather than hurtling headlong into a policy which we know gives rise to a range of negative and unintended consequences,” Mr Jones concluded.
The release of the Welsh Affairs Committee’s report arrives just two weeks ahead of the UK government’s Autumn Budget announcement on Wednesday 26th November.
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