The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) criticized updated reforms to business property relief (BPR) and agricultural property relief (APR) as “very disappointing”. The revised plans offer a new £1m ($1.34m) allowance, with qualifying property values exceeding this subject to a 50% relief rate.

ICAEW expressed disappointment in the government’s minor concession to index the £1m allowance to inflation by 2030. They argued for the transferability of the new £1m allowance between spouses to avoid forcing estates to liquidate essential assets, risking the collapse of businesses and farms, impacting employment and national food security.

ICAEW Technical Manager Katherine Ford raised concerns about practical aspects like lack of spousal transferability and unanticipated inheritance tax liabilities. The Institute has called for additional provisions to allow inheritance tax payments without double taxation through income or capital gains taxes and urged reassessment to ensure the impact on estates is minimized.

Concerns have been raised about the impact of the reforms on business owners who planned based on full APR or BPR upon death. The Institute highlighted potential disproportionate effects on older individuals or those unable to revise wills and called for transitional relief measures to mitigate these impacts.

Read more at Yahoo Finance: ICAEW raises concerns over UK’s BPR and APR reforms