A Meirionnydd farm visit for Plaid politicians highlighted the impact of UK Government inheritance tax proposals.

The meeting was held at the farm of NFU Cymru Meirionnydd Vice County Chairman Aled Jones, whose family have farmed at Ty’n y Braich, Dinas Mawddwy, for over 1,000 years across 17 generations.

Dwyfor Meirionnydd MP and MS Liz Saville-Roberts and Mabon ap Gwynfor attended to hear the challenges posed by planned changes to Agricultural Property Relief (APR) and Business Property Relief (BPR).

They heard from Griffith, Williams & Co chartered accountants, Pwllheli, alongside property and rural surveyor staff from Farmers Marts (R G Jones) Cyf, who gave an impartial business perspective on the complicated nature of the proposals and their consequences for small family businesses. Others in attendance included NFU Cymru/NFU Mutual Dolgellau Group Secretary Mair Jones, NFU Cymru County Adviser Ilan Jones and farmers from around the county, all of whom provided additional detail and anecdotal examples about the damaging impact of the proposals.

The meeting heard many farms in the county could see a tax bill of hundreds of thousands of pounds. However, given the discrepancy between these farms’ asset value and their income meant that – even over a 10-year period – many of these businesses were not in a position to pay the new tax bill and remain financially viable.

Aled Jones said he was grateful Mrs Saville-Roberts and Mr ap Gwynfor attended the meeting, along with representatives from local chartered accounting and rural property surveying firms who “were able to further illustrate that the tax burden these proposals will place on these farms are simply not sustainable for most family businesses and this will stifle the ambition of the next generation of Welsh farmers”, and hopes “Liz and Mabon can continue to assist NFU Cymru in its lobbying of UK Government on this issue”.