As profits for the farming community can be volatile from one year to the next due to uncontrollable factors like the weather – the Chancellor, George Osborne announced last week that the government will provide further support to farmers by increasing the period over which profits can be averaged from two to five years.
This change comes into effect in April 2016 and the National Farmers Union have said that they estimated over 29,000 farmers could benefit with an average gain of £950 per year.
Furthermore, transport costs – a large part of farmer’s annual expenditure will be tempered by the cancellation
of the proposed rise in fuel duty due for September – making it the longest duty freeze in over 20 years.
The other welcome changes in the budget for all households was the scrapping of the end-of-year tax returns in favour of “real-time” online accounting by 2020, together with a renewed commitment to delivering ultra-fast broadband to all homes in the country.
OSG Solicitors have been working closely with local accountants and financial advisors helping the farming community for many years to maximise the benefits from the changes in the legislation,
For more information please call our Lancaster office 01524 846846 to speak to one of the Agricultural team.
