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Succession Planning for Farms
Succession Planning for Farms

Have you thought about succession and the long-term plans for your family farm? As agriculture makes up the highest concentration of family businesses passed through the generations, it is no surprise that succession is a key issue and is something farmers need to...

Agricultural Property Relief – Changes Ahead
Agricultural Property Relief – Changes Ahead

Government initiatives often shape the landscape of various sectors, and agriculture is no exception. Recent developments in the UK's environmental policies are set to bring significant changes to agricultural property relief (APR).   Background In 2023, the UK...

DEFRA provides transparency on farming budget spend
DEFRA provides transparency on farming budget spend

After concerns were raised by food and farming organisations, DEFRA has decided to provide more transparency on how the agriculture budget for England is spent. On 18th September DEFRA published its Food Farming and Countryside Programme annual report for the 2022-23...

Landscape Recovery Scheme to support sustainable food production
Landscape Recovery Scheme to support sustainable food production

Second round of the Landscape Recovery Scheme The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has announced a second round of the Landscape Recovery Scheme which was initially launched in 2022. Farmers and land managers can apply for a share of the £15m...

New rules regarding Biodiversity Net Gains
New rules regarding Biodiversity Net Gains

New rules regarding biodiversity net gains have been announced by the Department for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (Defra). The main announcement is regarding a mandatory uplift of a 10% minimum biodiversity net gain (BNG). It is believed that this will be...

Challenges for farmers in 2023
Challenges for farmers in 2023

Introduction Going into 2023, the outlook is much less optimistic for farmers. However, the annual Sentiment Survey, conducted in October/November demonstrated that most farmers were in reasonable financial shape.   Arable farmers Arable farmers were in...

Agriculture and Horticulture Productivity Fund
Agriculture and Horticulture Productivity Fund

The department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) has recently announced £12.5 million in grant funding to businesses in the agriculture and horticulture sectors to help improve automation and robotics to boost productivity. Defra, in partnership with UK...

How to gain best tax relief for livery diversification?
How to gain best tax relief for livery diversification?

Livery businesses are particularly difficult to structure from a tax perspective and it is advised that owners should spend time reviewing agreements with their clients on a regular basis to ensure that they are being as tax efficient as possible. This is in order to...

Policy uncertainty restricting investment in agriculture tech
Policy uncertainty restricting investment in agriculture tech

Introduction Research has found that implementing new farming technology will help reduce the productivity gap between the UK and countries with much higher productivity in agriculture such as Australia and the USA. Future funding is critical if UK livestock farmers...

Our tax and financial reporting service
Our tax and financial reporting service

Tired of administrative tax and accounting burdens? By combining our in-house expertise Hawsons can provide businesses with an all-around tax and financial reporting service. Hawsons are part of a global network of independent accountancy firms called HLB...

What changes can we expect for farming in 2022?
What changes can we expect for farming in 2022?

The agriculture sector is facing a period of transition that will significantly change the way the industry operates. Rural businesses will need to find and generate new income streams as new opportunities present themselves. However, with these new opportunities...

WFH Tax Relief: Employees can reclaim £129.60
WFH Tax Relief: Employees can reclaim £129.60

HMRC launch microservice to aid employees working from home as a result of COVID-19 reclaim expenses HMRC has simplified the process for applying for working-from-home tax relief due to an influx of applications, with more people working from home as a result of the...