\n The heart-breaking story has been shared by one family amid initial concerns among the rural community over tax reforms which it was feared could lead to farm businesses being split up and sold.\n<\/p>\n
\n Initially the government\u2019s inheritance tax changes announced in the autumn budget meant that from April 2026, farms worth more than \u00a31m would face an inheritance tax rate of 20 per cent. It sparked fear and anger among farmers around the country who previously did not have to pay any inheritance tax. A number of high profile protests have been held with hundreds of tractors descending on the streets of Westminster.\n<\/p>\n
\n However, in December the government announced that the \u00a31m Agricultural and Business Property Reliefs threshold would increase to \u00a32.5m \u2013 allowing spouses or civil partners to pass on up to \u00a35m in qualifying agricultural or business assets between them.\n<\/p>\n
\n Sadly, this was too late for one Dorset farmer who signed a do not resuscitate (DNR) order as he \u2018didn\u2019t want to be here past April 5\u2019 when this inheritance tax would hit his family.\n<\/p>\n
\n The farmer\u2019s son, who wished to remain anonymous, explained that following the announcement of the tax changes in the budget, the family sat down and had a conversation.\n<\/p>\n
\n He said: \u201cWe are quite a close family, and we were talking about it. My father said, I have signed a DNR.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n A DNR is a Do Not Resuscitate order meaning if a patient’s heart stops or they stop breathing, healthcare providers will not perform CPR or other life-sustaining measures.\n<\/p>\n
\n The son said his father had said ‘if anything happens to me, I don\u2019t want to be here past April 5’, which the son said was \u2018understandable.\u2019\n<\/p>\n
\n Around three days after the conversation his father had a massive medical episode and was taken to hospital where he passed away just days later aged 80.\n<\/p>\n
\n The son said: \u201cHad the amendment been made [to the family farm tax] before he died would things have been different? Probably, he may not have signed that DNR.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n His father had been a farmer all his life and was born into a farming family. The business, which is an arable beef and sheep farm, has now been passed to him.\n<\/p>\n
\n The son said the government had not actually performed a U-turn, but he called it a \u2018step in the right direction.\u2019\n<\/p>\n
\n He said: \u201cIt\u2019s not going to help everybody. The government should have made provisions to protect the elderly and those with a short life expectancy.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Tim Gelfs, NFU county chair for Dorset, said: \u201cDorset has had its first casualty of the dreadful family farm tax. Prior to government moving the threshold, this group of old and terminally ill farmers had nowhere to go, no time to plan but lots of time to worry.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cWith so much unrest literally on our doorstep, climate change having a major effect on growing conditions around the world, it is not a time to be undermining our food security. Our food industry although looking very resilient from the outside is built on a just in time system, leaving it very susceptible to failure by local and world events, demonstrated only a couple of years ago, when we nearly ran out of eggs.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cHere in Dorset we have campaigned hard over the last year to bring evidence and understanding to our MPs. We have the support of all of our opposition parties within the county, and they have lobbied hard to make our case in parliament. But the real prize is our Labour MPs, of South Dorset, Poole and Bournemouth, these are the members who have the minister’s ear.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
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