Farmers’ inheritance tax could affect five times more farms than Treasury said, analysis finds
The new inheritance tax policy could affect up to five times more farms than the Treasury initially said, according to new analysis.
The government said its plan to impose 20% inheritance tax on farms worth more than £1m will affect 500 farms in the 2026-2027 financial year, based on analysis of past claims.
However, the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers (CAAV) has looked at the numbers and found 2,500 farms could be affected each year.
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The group, which represents businesses across UK agriculture, found up to 75,000 individual farms over a generation – which they define as 30 years – could be affected by the tax.
Jeremy Moody, author of the report and secretary and adviser at CAAV, told Sky News the government figures had not taken into account farmers who only claim Business Property Relief (BPR).
Farmers’ children rode mini tractors at the protest. Pic Reuters
Farmers protested last week, saying the tax would mean the end of many family farms because they would have to sell off land to pay it.
Environment Secretary Steve Reed had previously promised he would not change inheritance tax for farmers.
Many have said the government’s figures were incorrect and more than 500 family farms would be affected a year.
The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) said the real number is two thirds of farms of the UK’s 209,000 farms, while the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) said 70,000 farms would be affected.
But Mr Reed has insisted the figure is based on “raw data” and said the Treasury had taken into account all possible figures.
The Treasury said its figures came from data on farms that had claimed Agricultural Property Relief (APR), as well as those who claimed both APR and BPR – but not solely BPR.
Currently, to get 100% inheritance tax relief farmers have to claim APR for farmhouses, land and buildings, and BPR for machinery and livestock – but this can also be claimed for land and buildings.
Read more:
Farmers’ tax protest shows sector feels it’s being pushed aside
What’s the beef with farmers’ inheritance tax?
Not all farms have to claim BPR
Mr Moody explained some farms have to have farmhouses to be close to their livestock, so must claim APR for the farmhouse and BPR for machinery.
But, not all have to claim APR as not every farm includes a farmhouse. That’s because some farmers, mostly those who grow crops, do not live on the property – so they can just claim BPR.
“The Treasury didn’t look at BPR claims sitting there on their own,” he told Sky News.
“Unless you’re trying to argue the value of a farmhouse, which these days can be quite high, it’s just convenient to claim BPR on the land and machinery.
“A landowner might place the farm under BPR purely for simplicity because whether you claimed under APR or BPR has never mattered before.
“If a family farm is structured as a company then they also would only claim BPR, which isn’t wrong to do.”
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How long is a generation?
Mr Moody added government figures fail to consider that farms are typically handed down every 30 years, for example from an 85-year-old who dies to their 55-year-old son or daughter.
“The government’s figures accept that the effect from introducing inheritance tax is over 75 years, they didn’t think about how long a generation is,” Mr Moody said.
Because of spousal inheritance tax relief, the government has said a couple would be able to pass on a farm worth up to £3m before paying any inheritance tax. They said as it is payable over 10 years it will not be a big hit – something farmers disagree with.
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Farmer explains how tax will hit him
A government spokesman told Sky News: “Our commitment to our farmers is steadfast – we have committed £5bn to the farming budget over two years, including more money than ever for sustainable food production, and we are developing a 25-year farming roadmap, focusing on how to make the sector more profitable in the decades to come.
“We have been clear since this change was announced that around 500 claims of Agricultural and Business Property Relief each year will be impacted – this is based off actual claims data – and even when inheritance tax does kick in, it is effectively at half the rate paid by others.
“It is not possible to accurately infer inheritance tax liability from farm net worth figures as there are different circumstances affecting each farm, such as who owns it, the nature of ownership, how many people own it and how affairs are planned.”
Over $4 trillion worth of real estate could be tokenized on blockchain networks during the next decade, potentially offering investors greater access to property ownership opportunities, according to a new report.
The Deloitte Center for Financial Services predicts that over $4 trillion worth of real estate may be tokenized by 2035, up from less than $300 billion in 2024. The report, published April 24, estimates a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 27%.
The $4 trillion of tokenized property is predicted to stem from the benefits of blockchain-based assets, as well as a structural shift across real estate and property ownership.
“Real estate itself is undergoing transformation. Post-pandemic work-from-home trends, climate risk, and digitization have reshaped property fundamentals,” according to Chris Yin, co-founder of Plume Network, a blockchain built for real-world assets (RWAs).
“Office buildings are being repurposed into AI data centers, logistics hubs and energy-efficient residential communities,” Yin told Cointelegraph.
“Investors want targeted access to these modern use cases, and tokenization enables programmable, customizable exposure to such evolving asset profiles,” he said.
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The uncertainty triggered by US President Donald Trump’s import tariffs has boosted investor interest in the RWA tokenization sector, which involves minting financial products and tangible assets on a blockchain.
Both stablecoins and RWAs have attracted significant capital as safe-haven assets amid the global trade concerns, Juan Pellicer, senior research analyst at IntoTheBlock, told Cointelegraph.
The tariff concerns also led tokenized gold volume to surpass $1 billion in trading volume on April 10, its highest level since March 2023 when a US banking crisis saw the sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and the voluntary liquidation of Silvergate Bank
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Blockchain innovation could drive regulatory clarity
Growing RWA adoption may inspire a more welcoming stance from global regulators, Yin said.
“While regulation is a hurdle, regulation follows usage,” he explained, likening tokenization to Uber’s growth before widespread regulatory acceptance:
“Tokenization is similar — as demand increases, regulatory clarity will follow.”
He added that making tokenized products compliant with a wide range of international regulations is key to unlocking broader market access.
However, some industry watchers are skeptical about the benefits introduced by tokenized real estate.
“I don’t think tokenization should have its eyes directly set on real estate,” said Securitize chief operating officer Michael Sonnenshein at Paris Blockchain Week 2025.
“I’m sure there are all kinds of efficiencies that can be unlocked using blockchain technology to eliminate middlemen, escrow, and all kinds of things in real estate. But I think today, what the onchain economy is demanding are more liquid assets,” he added.
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United States Senator Cynthia Lummis suggests the crypto industry may be celebrating too soon over the US Federal Reserve softening its crypto guidance for banks.
“The Fed withdrawing crypto guidance is just noise, not real progress,” Lummis said in an April 25 X post. Lummis called the Fed’s April 24 announcement — withdrawing its 2022 supervisory letter that had discouraged banks from engaging with crypto and stablecoin activities — “just lip service.”
Lummis’ tone was different from the rest of the crypto industry
Lummis, a pro-crypto advocate known for introducing the Bitcoin (BTC) Strategic Reserve Bill in July 2024, pointed out several flaws in the Fed’s announcement, even as Strategy founder Michael Saylor and crypto entrepreneur Anthony Pompliano suggested it was a step forward for banks and crypto.
She argued that the Fed continues to “illegally flout the law on master accounts” and still relies on reputational risk in its bank supervision practices. It comes as the Federal Insurance Deposit Corporation (FDIC) is working on a rule to stop examiners from considering reputational risk when reviewing a bank’s operations, according to a recent Bloomberg report.
Lummis also highlighted the Fed’s policy statement in Section 9(13), which hasn’t been withdrawn, stating that Bitcoin and digital assets are considered “unsafe and unsound.”
She also reiterated many of the same staff behind Operation Chokepoint 2.0 are still involved in crypto policy today.
“We are NOT fooled. The Fed assassinated companies within the industry and hurt American interests by stifling innovation and shuttering businesses. This fight is far from over.”
“I will continue to hold the Fed accountable until the digital asset industry gets more than a life jacket, Chair Powell — they need a fair shake,” Lummis said.
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Custodia Bank founder and CEO Caitlin Long seemed to share a similar view to Lummis.
“THANK YOU for seeing this for what it is,” Long said.
However, many crypto executives praised the Fed’s announcement as a positive development for the industry. Saylor said in an April 25 X post that the Fed’s move means that “banks are now free to begin supporting Bitcoin.”
Anastasija Plotnikova, co-founder and CEO of blockchain regulatory firm Fideum, said the Fed’s decision “is a significant development, as it will simplify the path to institutional adoption.”
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In one of his first appearances as the recently sworn-in chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Paul Atkins delivered remarks to the agency’s third roundtable discussion of crypto regulation.
In the “Know Your Custodian” roundtable event on April 25, Atkins said he expected “huge benefits” from blockchain technology through efficiency, risk mitigation, transparency, and cutting costs. He reiterated that among his goals at the SEC would be to facilitate “clear regulatory rules of the road” for digital assets, hinting that the agency under former chair Gary Gensler had contributed to market and regulatory uncertainty.
“I look forward to engaging with market participants and working with colleagues in President Trump’s administration and Congress to establish a rational fit-for-purpose framework for crypto assets,” said Atkins.
Some critics of US President Donald Trump see Atkins’ nomination to lead the SEC as a nod to the crypto industry, acting on campaign promises to remove Gensler — the former chair resigned the day Trump took office — and cut back on regulation. Democratic lawmakers on the Senate Banking Committee questioned Atkins on his ties to the industry, potentially presenting conflicts of interest in his role regulating crypto.
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“We’ve noticed that we don’t have to be as concerned […] about being accused of things that we’re not doing, like being broker-dealers for securities,” Exodus chief legal officer Veronica McGregor, who participated in the roundtable, told Cointelegraph on April 24.”It’s just a less scary regulatory environment in general. It is, however, still unclear what the ultimate regs are going to look like for crypto.”
The SEC crypto task force is scheduled to hold two more roundtables in May and June to discuss tokenization and decentralized finance, respectively. Commissioner Hester Peirce, who leads the task force, told Cointelegraph in March that she welcomed the opportunity to work with Atkins to “reorient the agency,” hinting at an SEC with regulations more favorable to the crypto industry.
In addition to the roundtables, the crypto task force has reported several meetings with digital asset firms to discuss various policies and considerations in developing a regulatory framework.
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