The impact of the 2024 Autumn budget IHT announcements for farms, estates and rural businesses
The Rural Accountancy Group is urging the government to reconsider the IHT increase on farmers in a new, follow–up report.
Who are our Agricultural Accountants?
Each member of our Farms and Estates team has a background, education or interest in the rural community and rural businesses.
Our team is also a member of, chairs and was instrumental in setting up The Rural Accountancy Group UK (RAG UK). This group consists of 10 regional firms across the UK. We meet twice a year and communicate throughout the year sharing technical expertise and experience. We also call on non-accounting specialists in the sector such as solicitors, barristers, and land agents to share knowledge and experience.
In addition we can also pull on the specialist technical expertise from the other areas in our firm including, specialist tax, VAT, payroll, outsourced bookkeeping, financial modelling and budgeting, pensions and financial planning – just to name a few.
How our team of Agricultural Accountants can help
For over 150 years we have worked as agricultural accountants with farmers and landowners across Somerset. Our team combines technical expertise with personal experience and working knowledge of the current challenges, making our advice practical and sound.
Put simply, we are trusted by farmers and landowners throughout Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Somerset, Dorset, Devon, and Cornwall – as well as further afield – to provide proactive, enthusiastic, and experienced advice together with a fresh commercial perspective.
- We can assist in annual business accounts preparation, tax compliance, implement accounting systems, provide VAT planning/administration, as well as general bookkeeping. Larger agricultural businesses may benefit from our audit and payroll services.
- We can review, forecast, and make suitable recommendations and assist with restructuring and updating your business and systems to be fit for purpose today and as part of your long-term plans.
- We can review all your taxes whether it be income, inheritance, capital gains, stamp duty or VAT. Our agricultural accounting team are familiar with all specialist reliefs and our wider team of experts enable us to provide proactive advice, regardless of the tax situation.
- If you wish to sell up, pass on, or retire, we can guide you through the practicalities, tax planning and beyond, including financing options, cash flow emergencies and your investment/retirement provisions.
- Our experiences allow us to advise on business investment decisions and any necessary refinancing opportunities. We also assist by supporting grant applications, helping your business move forward.
In summary we can provide:
- Business and Tax Advice
- Business Restructuring
- Land and Property Transaction Advice
- Succession Planning
- Cashflow Forecast and Budgeting
- Banking and Finance
- Tax Advice
- Business Investment
- Benchmarking
Our other areas of expertise:
Landed Estates
Whether it be the commercial aspects and financing of the estate or the income and taxation position, we are experienced at working closely with our landed estate clients, find out more on our Landed Estates Page.
Expert Witness
Our knowledge and experience enables us to make assessments of the overall strengths and weaknesses of farming businesses. This can include the farms viability, the supporting farm accountancy and general business management.
The modern agricultural world provides several complexities in which it is necessary to appoint an experience professional to help a court achieve a fair resolution by providing an unbiased opinion.
We are often asked to be an independent opinion within agricultural disputes and have attended high court in legal cases.
Diversification
Should you wish to diversify or if you have already taken the plunge to expand your business in a new direction to secure another income stream or maximise assets, our team can assist.
Acting for over 500 farming businesses we are experienced advising on with rural diversification, considering the implications on your existing business, budgeting and cashflow management as well as advising on your business structure and assessing the wider tax implications.
Many of our Farms and Estates team are involved in diversified farming businesses, enabling us to pull on a wealth of personal knowledge and experience. Our knowledge stretches over:
- Property and land development
- Commercial and residential letting
- Holiday lets and bed and breakfast
- Camping, glamping and caravan parks
- Open farms and tourist attractions
- Self storage and caravan storage
- Farm shops, cafes and artisan food production
- Renewables
- Care homes, nurseries
Should it be a sector of diversification that we are not familiar with, although we cover many, we are fortunate that there is normally an experienced specialism in the wider Albert Goodman team.
Renewables
We can assist our clients in taking advantage of some of the commercial opportunities available to them within the renewables sector, testing their viability and sustainability. This can include solar wind, anaerobic digestion, and water. We can assist from the start of the project, considering the lifetime of the project and the main goals to advise on the business structure, income streams and the wider tax implications.
We have experience of working with professionals within the sector to ensure joined up thinking is behind the contracts and long-term plans.
Our wider team have experience in financial modelling to help ensure that projects are challenged, and decisions are based upon clear financial information. This can be linked to your existing business including the tax implications of such a substantial project.
Equine
We can assist in growing your business, taking advantage of reliefs for the various taxes which are tailored to the industry. Careful planning, particularly of stud farms can mean that agricultural property relief can be accessed and business property relief for other cases.
Many of our team can draw upon their personal knowledge and experience to help you understand your business and maximise the opportunities.
Our clients range from riding schools to racehorse trainers, from racehorse owners to stud farms.
Case Studies
Land Swap
Background:
A long-standing family business had land passed down the generations split in equal ownership between the family. Some of the owners farmed and some did not. As some of the farming partners wanted to retire, all the individuals wanted to sort out ownership so they each owned their own individual parcels of land. Different parcels of land had been purchased over time by different combinations of owners leading to complex ownership of over 200 acres of farmland and buildings.
How we helped:
We worked with the family, valuers, and solicitors to structure a deal to minimise tax payable on a land swap. This involved working out who wanted what land and how to divide it amongst them without significant capital gains tax liabilities. We were also able to complete the SDLT returns and the 30 day CGT returns as well as the tax returns disclosing the gains to HMRC. By discussing this with us, we were able to ensure the tax liabilities were minimised and the deal was structured in the correct way to enable a claim for entrepreneur’s relief for the individuals who ceased farming and rollover was claimed for the individual who never farmed.