{"id":586355,"date":"2026-04-15T20:16:57","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T20:16:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/586355\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T20:16:57","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T20:16:57","slug":"jcb-heir-warns-family-may-quit-uk-to-avoid-inheritance-taxes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/586355\/","title":{"rendered":"JCB heir warns family may quit UK to avoid inheritance taxes"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UK government has been warned its changes to inheritance tax<\/a> could force one of the country\u2019s most successful businesses to relocate to the US. <\/p>\n

Jo Bamford, whose father Anthony Bamford owns the digging equipment maker JCB, said moving across the Atlantic may be the best way to protect jobs and prevent businesses within the company\u2019s portfolio from being sold off when his father dies. <\/p>\n

Mr Bamford Snr donated millions to the Conservative party before switching his support to Nigel Farage\u2019s Reform.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe family tax \u2026 is a real problem,\u201d Jo Bamford said, referring to the move to levy 20 per cent tax on family business assets worth more than \u00a32.5 million. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt could quite easily become an American business. I love being in Britain. I love being here. I love our factories here. But I would say to a political party of any stripe, look, there\u2019s only so much you can ultimately do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Bamford pointed out that the company already has operations around the world. He told City AM: \u201cYou want us, as a family, to invest here in Britain. I\u2019m here because I\u2019m British and I\u2019m here and I employ people in Britain because I like British people, and I like being in my part of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

The company doubled the size of its factory under construction in Texas in response to US President Donald Trump\u2019s announcement of tariffs on international businesses. JCB, which was established in 1945 by Jo Bamford\u2019s grandfather Joseph, has been manufacturing in the US for 50 years. <\/p>\n

Mr Bamford, whose family also owns food and drink firm Daylesford and a luxury soap brand, said he was born in the US during the 1970s after Britain’s Labour government attempted to nationalise the business.<\/p>\n

In a move announced in Chancellor Rachel Reeves\u2019 maiden budget which came into effect last week, Prime Minister Keir Starmer\u2019s government will levy inheritance tax on family-owned companies. It will be the first time in decades such as charge has applied. <\/p>\n

Under the new rules, all shareholdings in a family business valued at more than \u00a32.5 million are subject to a reduced inheritance tax rate of 20 per cent. <\/p>\n

Farms and family-run firms had been exempt from the tax when they were passed down, but the government was concerned this exemption was being exploited by the most wealthy.<\/p>\n

Multiple businesses have warned that the tax demands could spell their demise. Entrepreneur James Dyson and hotelier Sir Rocco Forte have said their children are likely to sell off parts of their empires to pay the tax.<\/p>\n

The decision to change the inheritance tax rules came at the same time as the move to abolish non-dom status. The latter move has led some people who live in the UK but are not domiciled there for tax purposes to reconsider their options, with many moving to the UAE.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The UK government has been warned its changes to inheritance tax could force one of the country\u2019s most…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":586356,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[28,147,530,615,13546,98629],"class_list":{"0":"post-586355","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-personal-finance","10":"tag-personalfinance","11":"tag-standard","12":"tag-story","13":"tag-uk-bureau"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=586355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586355\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/586356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=586355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=586355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=586355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}