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The managing director of Iceland has criticised the chancellor’s inheritance tax raid on farmers, despite the Labour-backing boss previously voicing his support of the new budget.Richard Walker said that Rachel Reeves should prioritise online sales tax reform instead of targeting farmers with higher death duties, according to The Telegraph.
He said: “The Treasury is right to look at levelling the playing field on tax, but it has parked its tractor in the wrong place going after hard-working British farmers. Let’s stop messing around and make online sales tax reform the priority. High streets and farmers are the bedrock of this great country, we need to get behind them.”
His comments, which come shortly after he was criticised for failing to publicly support farmers, mark a break with his previous support of Labour, after he spoke out in support of the chancellor over recent months.
In December, Walker told The Telegraph that retail bosses should stop “wallowing” and “complaining” about higher taxes, and also said he was confident Reeves was listening to business before the budget.
Last week, campaign group No Farmers, No Food urged Iceland to publicly support the farming industry.
The group said: “It’s heartening to see the majority of major supermarkets supporting farmers in their campaign against the Government’s inheritance tax on family farms. But why haven’t Iceland Foods done the same? It’s time for all our major supermarkets to unite for farmers.”
It comes as the chancellor unveiled plans to make farms worth more than £1m liable for a 20% inheritance tax from April 2026, despite agricultural businesses previously being exempt from death taxes.
The National Farmers’ Union has argued that 75% of farm businesses could be impacted by the move, but the treasury argued that only 500 estates a year will pay more under the new scheme than they do today.
A government spokesman told The Telegraph: “Our commitment to farmers remains steadfast – we have committed £5bn to the farming budget over two years, including more money than ever for sustainable food production, and we are developing a 25-year farming roadmap, focusing on how to make the sector more profitable in the decades to come.
“Our reforms to agricultural and business property reliefs will mean estates will pay a reduced effective inheritance tax rate of 20%, rather than the standard 40%, and payments can be spread over 10 years, interest-free. This is a fair and balanced approach, which fixes the public services we all rely on, affecting around 500 estates next year.”
