2015
The Tenant Farmers Association is urging the Chancellor of the Exchequer to review the taxation of farmland, particularly in relation to farm tenancies, as part of the new Government’s first Budget this week.
Speaking ahead of this year’s Livestock Event, TFA Chief Executive George Dunn said “There is a growing consensus that the taxation environment within which rural landlords make decisions about land use is encouraging a plethora of short term interests in land and that this is leading to unsustainable economic outcomes within the agricultural sector. This situation cannot be allowed to continue. This has also been recognised by the Scottish Government which has made the case for Westminster to use its reserved powers in the taxation arena to secure better practice from the landlord community north of the border. Now is the time for these issues to be considered properly”.
“Tenant farmers want to be part of delivering the Government’s long term economic plan bringing income generation, jobs and growth to Britain’s rural areas. As farming entrepreneurs they need secure access to land to start, progress and develop businesses. However, currently, tenants are restricted in achieving these goals due to limitations in accessing Farm Business Tenancies (FBTs) with sufficient lengths of term,” said Mr Dunn.
The TFA believes that short term tenancies are holding back progression, investment and sustainable land use. FBTs have been too short for too long and now is the time for that to change. The TFA believes that average lengths of term on FBTs should be 10 years or more and that the Government should be using fiscal levers to achieve this.
The TFA has asked the Chancellor to look at the following:
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Ref: MR16 |
Date: 06 July 2015 |
Notes for Editors:
For further information contact George Dunn on 07721 998961 or TFA Communications and Events Co-ordinator Jenna Kirkpatrick on 0118 930 6130 or 07887 777157.
The TFA will be on stand 184 in the Business Management section at the Livestock Event, 8-9 July at the NEC, Birmingham.