Reform farmers’ tax breaks to make them nature-friendly, urges charity

“If you are looking at something like business rates and red diesel, the benefit is going to flow to the people with the most land and the people who are using the biggest tractors most often, which is probably going to be the big arable farms.

“The question is, is that the best place for these tax breaks to flow to, and what public benefit is being derived as a result of them?”

It is not clear whether the proposed reforms would mean abolishing all tax breaks and spending the revenue raised on the environment, or giving farmers who opt into certain measures a chance to keep the benefits.

Spark

Mr King acknowledged he did not have a ‘fully baked’ programme of change, but wanted to spark a conversation about moving the tax system towards a public goods model over time.

“If you were to get rid of all these tax breaks now, at the same time as the subsidy system is under great threat of collapsing altogether, obviously I would say that would be a terrible idea,” he said.

“But the window of opportunity has opened to ask the questions.”