Inheritance tax on farms should be delayed to avoid unfairness, says thinktank

IFS suggests gifts of land before a certain date could be tax-free so that elderly farmers would not be caught out

Ministers should give farmers an inheritance tax holiday for the next few years, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has said as it warned that government changes to agricultural taxes risked treating some landowners unfairly.

Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, announced in her budget last month that farmers with a business worth more than 1m could be subjected to 20% inheritance tax, prompting a tractor protest outside parliament.