Amendments will be introduced to the Finance Bill 2025. Under these amendments, the threshold at which 100% Agricultural Property Relief and 100% Business Property Relief applies will increase from £1million to £2.5million per estate, with 50% relief continuing to apply to qualifying assets above that level.
The government additionally confirmed that allowance transferable of up to £5m to spouses or civil partners will apply to people who are widowed and
This follows the relaxation announced in the November Budget when it was confirmed that the original £1million allowance would be transferable between spouses and civil partners, and that unused allowance could still be claimed where the first death occurred before 6 April 2026. The allowance is also set to remain fixed, at least until 5 April 2031.
Have a look at the Government announcement of 23 December 2025:
This is very welcome news. However, some taxpayers will have altered their succession plans already. For some, that effort may now prove to have been unnecessary – assuming there aren’t even more changes to the proposals before Apri 2026.
While the increase in the nil band is a sensible move, it’s difficult to understand why these changes have been announced in such an incremental manner and within less than a month after the November 2025 Budget. It is an object lesson which all governments should follow in practice – that radical changes to the capital taxes legislation really require an extensive consultation well before knee jerk
During that period of uncertainty, many families may have made irreversible decisions – selling land, restructuring businesses or accelerating succession plans – because they believed the rules were settled. Tax policy should give families the confidence to plan long-term, not push them into rushed decisions based on constantly shifting rules.
Stephen Parnham
