Rob Hitch

Premiers essais cet aprèm avec le robot AgXeed et le Titan de chez Bonnel. Après l'arpentage de la parcelle et les réglages du nouveau matériel, tt est prêt pr demain ⬇️ ! Je trouve cela impressionnant de technologie et de faciliter (une fois la prise en main faite). #FrAgtw

New safety drive highlights risks facing older farmers - Farmers Weekly fwi.co.uk/business/busin…

So three speakers into #semexconf26 and trade a major topic. U.K. trade deals are increasing market access for #dairy to the U.K. with little in return.

Great result but a lot of heartache, stress and expense incurred many many old people.

@JoeWStanley It will help surviving spouses, but the action was too late to prevent some families wasting money on land transfers and life insurance. Still need to address those who can’t make gifts and survive the 7 year PET period.

The only mention of the #FamilyFarmTax from the Chancellor was a boast despite 12 months of unrelenting evidence as to its destructive impact & even - horrendously - farmers recorded as taking their own lives & declining medical treatment as a result of it. Hideous governance.

A fairly uninspiring budget. doddaccountants.co.uk/news/autumn-bu…

The budget didn’t deliver a cancellation of the IHT reform, but did make the £1m band transferable ✔️ Will surviving spouses get to use a deceased spouses band like RNRB ? Still waiting for the small print. Hopefully some relief for the elderly through this measure.

What do farmers want from tomorrow’s #Budget2025 ?

People have been asking for this since last years budget. Just give farmers over a certain age a window to make gifts. Farmers need inheritance tax transitional gifting rule accountancydaily.co/farmers-need-i… via @accountancylive

@StuartMaggs There is finally some talk of putting up income tax, which no party should ever rule out. Need big levers to raise the money needed, not tinkering with things that create problems for sections of the economy without raising any significant funds.

Last year the Treasury went after farmers, cold pensioners, business-owners, employers, private schools, non-doms, people buying second houses, people selling things and people with pensions. This year it is looking to target people with pensions (again), GP’s, accountants, lawyers, people with big houses, landlords, and today we hear everybody who earns above £12,570 a year. They are also looking to reduce Universal Credit, PIP and Motability. Surely soon they will run out of people they don’t like, and try to come up with a policy that encourages businesses to grow? Perhaps they think Digital ID will fix this?

At last some grown up thinking that the only way to raise substantial amounts of tax is to tax everyone and reverse some of the recent cuts to national insurance.

Same thing the UK dairy industry has been asking for.

@FWAbiKay @FarmersWeekly Hopefully full relief for those over 70 or 75. Or no cap on BPR?

Farmers: You’ll want to keep your 👀 on the @FarmersWeekly website tomorrow. Big story incoming 🚀

So @HMRCgovuk have produced an online tool to check if projects qualify for R&D relief. Will many farmers use it? Maybe a sense check.

Thanks to ⁦@Alltech⁩ for the invite to this last night. Some interesting points. Needs sharing with a much wider audience, so good to hear it was shown at a recent ⁦@FAO⁩ meeting.

In Liverpool, although not for the Labour Party conference. Although if @Keir_Starmer or @RachelReevesMP want a refresher on the harsh effects of IHT proposals on people expected to die within the seven year gift period I’m sure I can interrupt my not very hectic schedule 😉

@StuartMaggs I still can’t understand why @UKLabour didn’t just open up a wide ranging consultation on capital taxes at last years budget. Then completely reformed the system this year. IHT and CGT both ripe for reform.

The proposals in here are really pretty uncontroversial. I might disagree about the details but broadly: - Reform inheritance tax before stupid APR/BPR changes come in; - Tax real terms capital gains, not inflationary gains; - Shift the burden of SDLT to facilitate movement of labour & downsizing. Taxes that force people to stay in their current home are dumb. Be careful about taxing farmland; - Amalgamate NIC within income tax; - Simplify corporation tax; - Simplify VAT Our tax system is far too complicated and painfully difficult to navigate. We need honesty about tax policy and proposals that focus on simplification alongside behavioural change. I have no confidence this will happen in the coming Budget.

Just written a letter to a widow, age 81, who holds land through a life interest trust created on the death of her husband. #IHT liability to 5/4/26 Nil IHT liability on 6/4/26 £1,050,000. When will @RachelReevesMP grant some relief for older people inadvertently caught by reform

@thevalleyfarmer The big issue is providing window for old people. It’s feels criminal collecting money from people who have no chance of mitigating the charge. But given the press coverage about targeting baby boomers (the richest generation) it looks like any suggestions will fall on deaf ears.

@Rob__Hitch Feels like a big assumption that selling off non-farming assets will be route taken ---- suspect they might be offering a better return than the farming assets in the long run?

Farms will be able to sell non farming assets? Those earmarked for non farming children? More Will disputes? News Release: IHT reform largely protects family farms but could be better targeted, says independent report  | CenTax centax.org.uk/news-release-i…