Finance Bill returns to Parliament: What you need to know
CLA continues to campaign against damaging inheritance tax changes
The Finance Bill returned to Parliament this week for its report stage, with the CLA continuing to lobby against the government's inheritance tax changes.
The Government climbdown before Christmas was extremely welcome, but it is apparent this is as far as it is willing to concede and as far as Labour rebels are willing to stick their necks out.
Regardless, the CLA has continued to meet with MPs and Peers on the topic but we have to pragmatic about any chance of success on amendments. We have been busy briefing MPs on the devastating impact that the changes to APR and BPR will have on investment and growth in the rural economy.
We have also proposed several sensible amendments such as extending the amount of time before any tax is paid, from 6 months after the death to 18 months to allow for probate to come through.
What next?
Following the debate, the Bill will now leave the House of Commons and enter the House of Lords for debate. Parliamentary procedure doesn’t allow the House of Lords to amend or change legislation relating to taxation.
We are transitioning our lobbying on APR/BPR to a new longer-term phase, where we will prioritise getting this legislation overturned at the next general election.
This will require working with the opposition parties now, and highlighting the real impacts that these changes will have on family businesses.
