Son of farmer who took own life says tax climbdown is ‘best Christmas present’

A farmer whose father killed himself the day before last October’s budget after weeks of worrying about inheritance tax changes has said the Government’s climbdown will be “the best Christmas present for a lot of farmers”.

John Charlesworth, 78, who went by his middle name Philip, was found dead by his son in a barn on their farm in Silkstone, Barnsley, on October 29 last year.

An inquest at Sheffield Coroner’s Court heard that in the months before Rachel Reeves’s Budget, he had been “growing more and more anxious about inheritance tax and the implications for the farm”.

His son Jonathan Charlesworth told the inquest he believed his father wanted to “beat” the Government’s proposals and “save the farm for future generations”.

Reacting to Tuesday’s news that the Government will raise the inheritance tax relief threshold for farmers from £1 million to £2.5 million, Jonathan Charlesworth said that “pressure from the industry has paid off”.

He told the Press Association: “It is a step in the right direction – more farms will sleep better this Christmas without the threat of inheritance tax looming over them.

“There will, however, be plenty of larger family farms that will have to plan for potential inheritance tax costs and a further window for them to do this would be beneficial.

“It’s a welcome U-turn that won’t bring back the lives lost over the last year or so due to the anxiety caused, but will hopefully prevent a flood of suicides running up to the commencement in April.

“Pressure from the industry has paid off – this will be the best Christmas present for a lot of farmers.”

Jonathan Charlesworth said the change “should have been researched and put out to review before any announcement was made”.

“But today we can celebrate a well-fought-for victory for our precious countryside and the custodians of it,” he added.

The change to the reforms initially unveiled at Labour’s first Budget last year comes after ministers “listened to concerns” of the farming community and businesses, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said on Tuesday.

The original Treasury plans to raise money as farmers pass their businesses from generation to generation triggered protests with tractors outside Parliament and criticism from some Labour MPs in rural seats.

The higher threshold, which will take effect in April, will allow spouses or civil partners to pass on up to £5 million in qualifying agricultural or business assets between them before paying inheritance tax – on top of existing allowances, Defra said.

Above that allowance, farmers will get 50% relief on qualifying assets and will pay a reduced effective rate of up to 20%, rather than the standard 40%.

The number of estates facing higher inheritance tax will be reduced from around 2,000 under the original plans to up to 1,100, hitting only the largest farms, according to the Government.

Farmers currently do not pay inheritance tax on agricultural and business assets which they pass on.

Under Labour’s initial proposal, the full 100% relief was to be restricted to the first £1 million of property.

Jonathan Charlesworth told the hearing: “I think he was under stress looking after my mum but if it hadn’t been for worries about inheritance tax he would still be here today. He wouldn’t have put us all through that for any other reason.

“He thought he was doing it for the good. I don’t agree with that, but he thought he was doing it for the greater good.

“There was a lack of information, it wasn’t actually as bad as it could have been but we didn’t know that.

“We couldn’t find any information, we just knew it was coming, we didn’t know how bad it was going to be.

“I think he woke up that morning and thought, ‘I’m not risking it, I’m not risking losing everything I’ve worked for’.”

He added: “In the couple of months before it happened, the only thing he talked about was inheritance tax.

“I think he just wasn’t going to let the Government beat him. That was his final hurrah.”