{"id":811492,"date":"2026-10-23T14:46:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T14:46:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/811492\/"},"modified":"2026-10-23T14:46:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T14:46:12","slug":"family-farm-tax-causing-devastating-emotional-toll-in-northern-ireland-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/811492\/","title":{"rendered":"Family farm tax causing \u2018devastating emotional toll\u2019 in Northern Ireland \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Farming families in Northern Ireland are facing a \u201cdevastating emotional toll\u201d over inheritance tax<\/a>, a union has said. <\/p>\n

A membership survey from the Ulster Farmer\u2019s Union<\/a> said that nearly 90% felt increased worry or stress as a result of the changes.<\/p>\n

There had been widespread protests in 2024 when the UK Government axed the 100% tax relief policy that had been in place since the 1980s.<\/p>\n

Initially, a 20% rate on inheriting agricultural assets was imposed, but last year this was increased to \u00a32.5m.<\/p>\n

\"Lockhart<\/a>\"Catholic<\/a><\/p>\n

Farming groups across the UK are now renewing their demands to scrap the tax, which took effect in April this year, entirely ahead of the Autumn budget.<\/p>\n

The UK government has said the current rules would \u201cprotect small family farms and businesses while ensuring the largest estates make a fair contribution\u201d.<\/p>\n

The UFU\u2019s \u2018budget to back farming\u2019 survey also said that 60% reported \u201ca significant increase\u201d in family stress or worry which exposed the \u201cdeeply personal consequences\u201d including difficult conversations about whether businesses built over generations could be passed on.<\/p>\n

\"UlsterUlster Farmers Union President John McLenaghan. (Mark Marlow\/PA) <\/p>\n

UFU president John McLenaghan said: \u201cBehind every locally produced food item on our shelves is a farming family worried about its future. <\/p>\n

\u201cThese are parents who have spent their lives working to build a business for their children, now questioning whether they will be able to pass it on without leaving them with an enormous financial burden.\u201d<\/p>\n

With rising costs and unpredictable markets, he added: \u201cNo farming family should have to lie awake at night worrying that a lifetime of hard work could leave their children facing an impossible financial decision, particularly when they have been told for decades that they will not have a liability to pay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another impact was that half (49%) of intended successors had become less willing, less financially able, or both to take over the family business.<\/p>\n

\"FarmersFarmers across the UK have also been protesting against the changes to inheritance tax. (Jordan Pettitt\/PA) <\/p>\n

The UFU warned that these findings demonstrate how concerns about inheritance tax are affecting not only financial planning but also family relationships, confidence and decisions about the future.<\/p>\n

Rural Support director of programmes Gyles Dawson added: \u201cFarming is a generational way of life in Northern Ireland, and when the future of a family legacy feels threatened, the emotional toll can be overwhelming, which leads to circumstances that can be difficult to unravel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr McLenaghan urged the chancellor not to dismiss the findings as \u201csimply another concern about taxation,\u201d but an opportunity to restore confidence in family farming.<\/p>\n

Farming families experiencing stress or worry can access advice online at www.ruralsupport.org.uk.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Farming families in Northern Ireland are facing a \u201cdevastating emotional toll\u201d over inheritance tax, a union has said.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":811493,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[5083,84,27525,4176,4174,4175,474,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-811492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-agriculture","tag-business","tag-farming","tag-finance","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance","tag-tax","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=811492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811492\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/811493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=811492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=811492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=811492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}