Agricultural Accountants for Farms and Farming Families
We do the tax and accounts for working farms: the annual accounts and returns, the 2026 inheritance-tax reforms and succession, subsidies, profit averaging and the herd basis. Farm specialists, not a high-street generalist, with a fixed fee agreed before we start.
- Farm accounts and tax returns, filed on time
- Inheritance tax at the current £2.5m position, not the withdrawn £1m
- Succession worked out before it becomes a forced sale
- Profit averaging and the herd basis handled
- Delinked payments, SFI and subsidies treated correctly
- A fixed fee, agreed in writing before we start
Ask About Your Farm
- Fixed fee up front
- No obligation
- Reply within 1 working day
- £2.5m
- of farm and business assets now pass at 100% relief, per person
- £5m
- a couple can pass on together, before their nil-rate bands
- 20%
- the effective inheritance-tax rate on value above the allowance
- 6 Apr 2026
- when the reformed reliefs take effect
Dates and Figures Farmers Get Caught By
| What it is | Where it bites | Figure or date |
|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and Business Property Relief | 100% relief up to this per person, from 6 April 2026 | £2.5m |
| Relief above the allowance | 50% relief, an effective inheritance-tax rate of | 20% |
| A couple's combined allowance | Transferable to a surviving spouse, before nil-rate bands | £5m |
| Delinked payments | Cut 98% on the first £30,000, last paid in | 2027 |
| Making Tax Digital | Gross farm turnover over this on the 2024/25 return | £50,000 |
| Furnished holiday lets | Tax regime abolished, affecting farm cottages | 6 April 2025 |
| Annual Investment Allowance | Full relief on plant and machinery, including tractors | £1m |
Sources: GOV.UK, HMRC manuals, legislation.gov.uk. Checked 27 July 2026. The inheritance-tax allowance was raised from £1m to £2.5m on 23 December 2025; pages still quoting £1m are out of date. Nothing here is published without a primary source.
A farm is taxed in ways a high-street accountant rarely meets. Profits swing with the weather and the milk price, so they can be averaged over two or five years. A dairy or breeding herd can sit outside trading profit on the herd basis. Subsidies changed from the Basic Payment Scheme to delinked payments that are winding down to nothing by 2027. And in 2026 the reliefs that kept the farm out of inheritance tax were reformed, which is the thing keeping farming families awake.
We do the whole of it, and we do it as farm specialists. That last point is the one farmers raise most: the fear of handing the books to someone who does not know a herd basis election from a hole in the ground.
What We Do for Farms
The farm accounts and the Self Assessment or company return, with the reliefs that are specific to farming actually claimed: two-year and five-year averaging to smooth volatile profits, the herd basis where you keep a production herd, and the right treatment of delinked payments, SFI and stewardship income. Capital allowances on machinery and new buildings, and the VAT position, including the agricultural flat rate scheme where it fits.
One holding or a large mixed estate, tenanted or owner-occupied, it is worked as one business so the pieces reconcile rather than being handled in isolation.
The 2026 Inheritance Tax Reform, at the Current £2.5m
This is the change that has farming families worried, and it is the one most pages get wrong. The £1 million cap announced in the Autumn 2024 Budget was raised to £2.5 million per person on 23 December 2025, with 50% relief above that, transferable between spouses so a couple can pass on up to £5 million in qualifying farm and business assets. It is now law in the Finance Act 2026 and takes effect on 6 April 2026.
What that means in practice, and whether your farm is over the line at all, depends on how the land, the farmhouse and the business are owned and valued. We work it out on your figures, model the succession, and where gifting the farm is the answer, deal with the seven-year rule. We do not sell a scheme, and we do not advise on the life insurance some people take out to cover the bill, because that is regulated advice we do not hold.
Subsidies, Averaging and Making Tax Digital
Delinked payments replaced the Basic Payment Scheme and are being cut hard, 98% off the first £30,000 for 2026 and 2027, with 2027 the last year. They are taxable as farm income, as are SFI and stewardship payments where the land is still farmed. Getting that, and the averaging that softens a bad year, right is ordinary farm-accounts work that a generalist often misses.
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax also reaches farmers: gross turnover over £50,000 on the 2024/25 return means quarterly filing from April 2026. We set the software up and file the quarters so they are not four new deadlines at the worst times of the farming year.
How We Quote
A fixed figure in writing before anything starts, based on the size and shape of the farm business and what is outstanding, not on your turnover. There is no hourly rate, no percentage of your subsidy, and no charge for a question asked in the middle of harvest.
If your position is genuinely simple, we will tell you that rather than quote for it.
What We Do Not Do
We do not advise on life insurance or investment products. Tidy Money Ltd is regulated by the ACCA and holds no Financial Conduct Authority permission, so on succession we do the tax: the relief, the structure, the gifting and the claim. Whether to insure the eventual bill, or what to invest in, is a question for a regulated adviser.
We do not sell tax-avoidance schemes, and we are not a directory. Your enquiry comes to the practice that would do the work, nobody pays us to be recommended, and there are no testimonials on this site because we will not publish any we cannot evidence.
Guides for Farms and Farming Families
Farm Inheritance Tax
This guide sets out the 2026 inheritance-tax reform at the current £2.5m allowance, and what it means for the family farm.
Business Property Relief
This guide explains how BPR takes a trading farm or family business out of inheritance tax, and how the 2026 cap changed it.
Basis Period Reform
This guide explains the move to the tax-year basis, and why some farms had a larger-than-usual tax bill in the transition.
Farm Subsidies
This guide covers the switch from BPS to delinked payments and SFI, and the fact that all of them are taxable farm income.
Red Diesel for Farms
This guide sets out which farm uses still qualify for rebated red diesel after the 2022 restriction, and which do not.
Averaging and Herd Basis
This guide explains the two reliefs a general accountant most often misses: profit averaging and the herd basis.
Farm Diversification
This guide covers the tax on the things farms diversify into, and where diversifying can quietly cost the inheritance-tax relief.
Common questions
Will my family have to sell land to pay the inheritance tax?
Often not, once it is worked out properly. From April 2026, 100% relief covers the first £2.5 million of farm and business assets per person, £5 million for a couple, with 50% relief above that. Whether there is a bill at all depends on how the farm is owned and valued, and there is usually planning that reduces or spreads it. That is the calculation we do.
Is it still the £1 million cap I keep reading about?
No, and that is the single most common thing we correct. The £1 million figure was the original Autumn 2024 proposal. It was raised to £2.5 million per person on 23 December 2025 and is now law. Pages still quoting £1 million are out of date.
Do I really need a farm specialist rather than my local accountant?
For a straightforward year, a good general accountant can do the return. Where it pays to have a specialist is the farming-only reliefs, averaging, the herd basis, the subsidy transition, and above all the inheritance-tax and succession work, which is where a generalist is most likely to get it wrong or miss it.
Should I gift the farm to the next generation now?
Sometimes, and it has to be planned. Surviving seven years after a gift takes it out of the estate, but there are trade-offs around control, capital gains and the reformed reliefs. We model it on your figures rather than give a one-size answer.
What does it cost?
It depends on the size and structure of the farm business and what is outstanding. We quote a fixed figure before starting, so you know the number before you commit. A single holding is a different price from a large estate with a company and tenancies.
Tell Us About the Farm and We Will Quote
Tell us what you farm, how the business and the land are held, and what is outstanding. We come back with a fixed fee for the work and the date it has to be finished by. If your position is simple, we will say so rather than quote for it.
Get a fixed quote