CLA comments on Autumn Budget speculation
THE CLA (Country Land and Business Association) has commented on reports that The Treasury is
exploring options to raise additional revenue from inheritance tax ahead of the autumn budget, with
officials examining whether tightening rules around the gifting of assets and money could help
address the UK’s multi-billion-pound fiscal shortfall.
Among the reported inheritance tax measures under consideration is a potential cap on lifetime
gifts, part of a broader review into how assets can be transferred before death to minimise
inheritance tax liabilities.
Under current UK rules, gifts made more than seven years before a person’s death are exempt
from inheritance tax. Gifts made between three and seven years prior are taxed on a sliding scale,
depending on their value and the total estate.
Country Land and Business Association (CLA) President Victoria Vyvyan said: “Passing on a
family business is how parents keep their life’s work alive through their children. It sounds like
Labour is planning to make this even more difficult.
“Cap the transfer of business assets, and families could be hit with immediate bills they can’t pay.
That could mean selling stock, letting go of employees, or walking away from a trade built over a
lifetime. Higher capital gains rates could keep owners hanging on for years to protect the viability of
the business, making it harder for the sons, daughters and apprentices to step in.
“They say this will raise money. In truth, it would cost the people who grow our food, keep our
shops open and care for our countryside – balancing the books by cutting the future short.”
