A Tribunal rules that though age and infirmity had restricted
his activities, for tax purposes a farmer was still engaged in
farming at the time of his death.
When an elderly farmer passed away, HMRC decided the farmhouse
he was occupying at the time was not agricultural property for the
purposes of Inheritance Tax, because he had considerably scaled
down his farming activities.
Does grazing count?
In HMRC's view, the farmhouse was not eligible for
Agricultural Property Relief (APR) since for the last two years of
his life, the farmer was no longer farming the land attached to the
property, but had rented it out for livestock grazing and was
simply maintaining it.
The First-tier Tribunal saw the case differently and ruled in
favour of the farmer's estate. Thanks in part to witness
statements from those grazing the land, and the farmer's own
records, it was clear that despite his age and infirmity the farmer
was still repairing fences, controlling weeds and
