Interaction between business relief and agricultural property relief

Many taxes generate strong reactions but the one which seems to draw the most attention is inheritance tax (IHT). Most of the anger is rooted in the perceived double taxation – once when you earn it and again when you die.

Nevertheless IHT is a relatively small tax when compared to the big hitters like income tax and National Insurance with receipts in the last 12 months ‘only’ reaching £7.5bn.

In the run up to the election a steady stream of speculation around IHT reliefs sprung up. Hypothetical questions were raised such as whether the reliefs would be abolished entirely capped to a value threshold or reformed in another way such as by changing the qualifying criteria (with AIM shares getting a lot of attention).

Many are waiting with bated breath for what will come out of the...