How do Labour's inheritance tax policies support sustainable agriculture in Britain?

[Ein Heldenleben]

As I understand it, it was the Country Landowners Association harvesting for yesterday's Whitehall demo, rather than farmers. As I also understand things, agricultural traffic is exempt from paying the ULEZ charge, although I don't have knowledge as to whether that also goes for the Congestion Charge; but I do wonder if anybody was arrested for all the noise, which reportedly made study in a nearby school untenable, and which one undertsands is now an arrestable offense.

Last County Show I went to the CLA mob were knocking back champagne at 12.00 outside their stall. Having just walked past the Land Rover, Volvo and John Deere tractor displays I decided to take claims of poverty amongst the regions farmers with a pinch of salt. Some are poor , some are very very rich.

[Anastasius]

... which one undertsands is now an arrestable offense.

Only if you're a white, middle-class and not Pro-Gaza

[Serial_Apologist]

Only if you're a white, middle-class and not Pro-Gaza

?

[Anastasius]

Well, I didn't expect you to understand. Nor am I going to waste my time trying to educate you.

[Serial_Apologist]

Well, I didn't expect you to understand. Nor am I going to waste my time trying to educate you.

Never mind - your messages are a waste of time anyway.

[teamsaint]

Inheritance tax isn’t really a very significant revenue raiser. Less than 1% of all tax raised. A lot of people of all political persuasions get very hot under the collar about it for a number of reasons,and its effects are probably widely misunderstood.
It isn’t unreasonable to see the whole pro/anti farmer inheritance tax as a useful distraction being used by politicians. In any case, we have many more pressing issues to deal with.

[french frank]

Inheritance tax isn’t really a very significant revenue raiser. Less than 1% of all tax raised. A lot of people of all political persuasions get very hot under the collar about it for a number of reasons,and its effects are probably widely misunderstood.
It isn’t unreasonable to see the whole pro/anti farmer inheritance tax as a useful distraction being used by politicians. In any case, we have many more pressing issues to deal with.

£7.5bn pa overall is nevertheless a useful sum, albeit that individual changes don't amount to much. It's a tool and IHT targets a different section of the public from, for instance, VAT which affects everyone. However a government chooses ro raise tax, some people will be adversely - and possibly unfairly - hit. To repeat what I was told by Sunny Jim many years ago: "The collection of tax cannot proceed on the basis of a minute enquiry into a muliplicity of personal details."

[Ein Heldenleben]

£7.5bn pa overall is nevertheless a useful sum, albeit that individual changes don't amount to much. It's a tool and IHT targets a different section of the public from, for instance, VAT which affects everyone. However a government chooses ro raise tax, some people will be adversely - and possibly unfairly - hit. To repeat what I was told by Sunny Jim many years ago: "The collection of tax cannot proceed on the basis of a minute enquiry into a muliplicity of personal details."

Actually the consequence of that is that many people including farmers are able to write off a lot of tax in the form of expenses. I’m told minicab drivers are the prime example. You wouldn’t believe the amount of “stuff “ essential for the operation of a farm or business that gets bought in February and March.

[Anastasius]

Never mind - your messages are a waste of time anyway.

Precisely. As I said in the previous post, I didn't expect you to understand then. So why waste your time ?

[Anastasius]

Inheritance tax isn’t really a very significant revenue raiser. Less than 1% of all tax raised. A lot of people of all political persuasions get very hot under the collar about it for a number of reasons,and its effects are probably widely misunderstood.
It isn’t unreasonable to see the whole pro/anti farmer inheritance tax as a useful distraction being used by politicians. In any case, we have many more pressing issues to deal with.

Maybe insignificant to the Exchequer but to the families involved?

What are the more pressing issues ? Apart from Labour turning out to be even worse than the Tories ? Recession next year.

[Anastasius]

£7.5bn pa overall is nevertheless a useful sum, albeit that individual changes don't amount to much. It's a tool and IHT targets a different section of the public from, for instance, VAT which affects everyone. However a government chooses ro raise tax, some people will be adversely - and possibly unfairly - hit. To repeat what I was told by Sunny Jim many years ago: "The collection of tax cannot proceed on the basis of a minute enquiry into a muliplicity of personal details."

Yes, it can. It can be applied fairly to all. For example, VAT....fuel duty....Not having a vindictive snipe against farmers. Or pensioners.

Or be vindictively by the Winter Fuel Allowance, Inheritance Tax, Private Schools. By favouring grants to Labour towns at the expense of rural councils. Then allowing rural councils to hype their council taxes by 25% to fund the shortfall from Govt.

[teamsaint]

Maybe insignificant to the Exchequer but to the families involved?

What are the more pressing issues ? Apart from Labour turning out to be even worse than the Tories ? Recession next year.

Yes, significant to those affected, which is why it needs reform.

I can think of plenty more pressing issues ,I’m sure you can too. Looming recession in part helped on its way by the idiotic NI rises, ( completely contrary to Reeves “ growth” mantra,) NHS reform, the economic and other dangers of the way that net zero is being approached in the UK , etc. Inheritance tax is just much higher up the agenda for discussion than it ought to be IMO.

[teamsaint]

£7.5bn pa overall is nevertheless a useful sum, albeit that individual changes don't amount to much. It's a tool and IHT targets a different section of the public from, for instance, VAT which affects everyone. However a government chooses ro raise tax, some people will be adversely - and possibly unfairly - hit. To repeat what I was told by Sunny Jim many years ago: "The collection of tax cannot proceed on the basis of a minute enquiry into a muliplicity of personal details."

I’m not against inheritance tax. But I do think it needs reform, and could raise more money, more fairly. Taxes, in order to make some attempt at fairness as well as being effective, need to be levied on income, spending and wealth. We probably ( just a guess) undertax wealth in the UK, as opposed to spending and income.
But given that it isn’t a huge revenue raiser, the controversies around it are a bit of a distraction .

[Serial_Apologist]

I’m not against inheritance tax. But I do think it needs reform, and could raise more money, more fairly. Taxes, in order to make some attempt at fairness as well as being effective, need to be levied on income, spending and wealth. We probably ( just a guess) undertax wealth in the UK, as opposed to spending and income.
But given that it isn’t a huge revenue raiser, the controversies around it are a bit of a distraction .

The main problem is that global capitalism has inbuilt a system so full of imponderables and self-destructive risks that along with the overall division of labour individual nations have to try somehow to ensure population levels commensurate with economic demands perennially at the mercy of unaccountable impersonal forces dictating how efficiency is defined and untrustworthy institutions inadequately overseeing the whole ongoing short term interests-defined process. The consequently unending detriment to the misdescribed developing world will force non-privileged countries into forming their own fairer trading arrangements which will in all probability hold the still privileged west to ransom, meaning there will be less economic resources for maintaining military alliances and strategic outposts let alone political consensus accordant with established expectations and ambitions without drastic shifts away from long current current assumptions and shifts towards less waste, organisational simplification and sustainability which would require a quite different and more inclusive model for running societies than the divide-and-rule one we have. The rich and powerful will do all they can to prevent this happening.

[Anastasius]

Yes, significant to those affected, which is why it needs reform.

I can think of plenty more pressing issues ,I’m sure you can too. Looming recession in part helped on its way by the idiotic NI rises, ( completely contrary to Reeves “ growth” mantra,) NHS reform, the economic and other dangers of the way that net zero is being approached in the UK , etc. Inheritance tax is just much higher up the agenda for discussion than it ought to be IMO.

Completely agree with you. I have no great affection for the Conservatives but Labour are now beyond the pale.