Overview
- Ministers raised the cap for full APR/BPR relief to £2.5 million per person, with spouses or civil partners able to combine allowances to £5 million from April.
- Qualifying agricultural and business assets above the new cap will receive 50% relief, reducing the effective rate on those assets to up to 20%.
- The government estimates estates facing higher inheritance tax will fall to up to 1,100 overall, with affected agricultural estates dropping from 375 to 185.
- An amendment to the Finance Bill will be introduced in January to enact the revised thresholds ahead of the April start.
- Farming groups including the NFU welcomed the move as relief for family farms, while opposition parties and rural organisations said it does not go far enough and highlighted Labour’s internal dissent over the original plan.