Jeremy Clarkson has shared how he believes farmers are affected when it comes to Inheritance Tax, in comparison to other people in the UK in different professions.
In an effort to simplify his argument, he said that while people with other jobs, like a plumber or a teacher, for example, can sell their parents’ house when they die, pay the tax required and enjoy a holiday with what’s left, it’s not the same for farmers.
This is because “being born on a working farm is like being born into the royal family”, as you can’t cut ties with the lifestyle and pass it on to anyone like you can when selling a house.
He believes “the inheritance tax on farms is going to ruin everything that makes Britain beautiful.”
Is series six of Clarkson’s Farm on the way?
The news comes after it was reported that Amazon Prime Video would release a sixth series of Clarkson’s Farm, following a break from filming for Clarkson and fellow farmer Kaleb Cooper.
Clarkson said filming for the sixth series of Clarkson’s Farm would begin “if it snows”.
So when snow began falling across the country in January, he was straight back out into the fields at Diddly Squat Farm and started the cameras rolling, The Sun reported.
Jeremy Clarkson’s take on inheritance tax for farmers and how it’s different for those in other jobs
The personal cost that farming families have endured will not be forgotten, the Conservatives said, following the Government’s climbdown over Inheritance Tax.
Labour’s watered-down plans will see the relief threshold for farmers raised from £1 million to £2.5 million from April 2026.
This came after months of protests and warnings over farmers contemplating suicide to avoid the taxes as they pass their businesses from generation to generation.
Clarkson said in his column for The Times : “Because what’s the big deal? It’s this.
“A farmer’s child starts to work on the family farm, quite literally from the moment he can walk (I’m saying “he” for conciseness but I mean he or she).
“He is up at dawn, milking the cows, feeding the sheep and greasing the nipples on the tractor. He may want to sit by the fire playing with an iPad, but he cannot.
Jeremy Clarkson and Amazon issue update on series 6 of Clarkson’s Farm
“Being born on a working farm is like being born into the royal family. Some do manage to leave, but there’s always a huge fuss.
“So, as the weeks and the months roll by, the farmer teaches his kid all about their farm, in the same way that his father had taught him.
“And as time goes by, the kid develops an encyclopedic knowledge about what grows where and what doesn’t. He will come to know every square inch of the farm.
“One day, of course, his dad will die, and if the farm is medium-sized, thanks to the Labourites, he will have to pay inheritance tax.
“And the only way he’ll be able to afford to do that is sell a portion of the farm. Which would make it completely unviable.”
He added: “I have a thousand acres at Diddly Squat and even a farm that big does not make money.
“If I had to sell a third of it to pay Rachel Reeves, it would stop breaking even and make a loss.”
Clarkson went on to say that “the farmer’s kid has no choice” as “he has to sell the whole lot”, meaning “all the generational knowledge about that piece of ground is lost” and “no one will ever be able to farm it as well ever again.”
Addressing non-farmers, he added: “So, you see, the question of inheritance is not the same for farmers as it is for you.
“You can sell your parents’ house when they die and someone else will be able to live in it.
“They will be able to operate the doors and the windows.
“They know how a house works. But you can’t just sell a farm to someone and expect them to have the first clue about how it should be run. I know this better than most.”
You can read Clarkson’s full column via The Times website (linked above).
