Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief Debate
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Robin Swann
Main Page: Robin Swann (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)Department Debates - View all Robin Swann's debates with the HM Treasury
Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief
Robin Swann Excerpts(3 days, 20 hours ago)
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Dan Tomlinson
We heard what farmers were saying and that is why we have come forward with the changes we announced last month.
Robin Swann (South Antrim) (UUP)
The Ulster Farmers’ Union and the Young Farmers’ Clubs of Ulster made many representations here with regard to the damage that this policy would do to Northern Ireland farms, but there is one specific point I want to ask the Minister about. He has mentioned a number of times the allowance being passed between couples and civil partnerships. Example 2, in his own Government paper, states:
“Two people (such as siblings) who jointly own a farm will be able to pass on a farm up to £5.65 million”
under the allowance. If there is a father and daughter, uncle, aunt, niece and nephew in that partnership, can they pass on that allowance, too—seeing as he is the tax Minister?
Dan Tomlinson
They can each pass it on up to £2.5 million to whomever they choose to pass it on to. In the inheritance tax system more broadly, it is the case that the various bands and allowances are only fully transferable between spouses, and this is consistent with that policy. But it would be the case that if a farm was owned, say, by a brother and a sister, the brother could pass up to £2.5 million to whomever he wished and the sister could pass up to £2.5 million to whomever she wished. That is what example 2, which the hon. Gentleman is referring to, gets at.