Lidl GB has voiced strong support for the British farming community, urging the government to pause and reconsider recent Inheritance Tax regime changes that could potentially impact agricultural investment.
The supermarket, which sources two-thirds of its products from British suppliers, highlighted its substantial commitment to the UK food industry. In the past year alone, Lidl has invested £1 billion in the egg industry, £1.5bn in beef, £500m in pork, and £70m in root vegetable suppliers.
By the end of the financial year, Lidl expects to have invested a total of £21bn in British food production, exceeding its original five-year commitment by 40 per cent. The company sources 100 per cent of its fresh beef, pork, poultry, milk, butter, cream, and eggs from British producers.
“Providing security and long-term investment for British agriculture is key to helping ensure that farmers can continue to produce affordable and increasingly sustainable food for generations to come,” Lidl said in a statement.
“We are concerned that the recent changes to the Inheritance Tax regime will impact farmer and grower confidence and hold back the investment needed to build a resilient, productive and sustainable British food system.
“We, therefore, support the call by the farming community to pause the implementation of those changes and to consult with industry to achieve a mutually beneficial outcome.”
Last year, prime minister Keir Starmer's Labour government announced that in order to find vital new revenue, some farms would no longer be exempt from inheritance tax, a long-standing measure designed to facilitate the family handover of farms.
From April 2026, the exemption will be capped at £1 million. Beyond that, a 20 per cent tax will apply, half the normal rate.
British farmers have been protesting the move, which they say threatens the agricultural sector and food production.
The government maintains the actual threshold before paying inheritance tax could be as much as £3m, once exemptions for each partner in a couple and for the farm property are taken into account.
British farmers have been struggling in recent years due to a lack of funding and post-Brexit labour shortages.
Farming businesses previously qualified for 100-percent relief on inheritance tax on agricultural and business property, reducing the amounts that farmers and landowners pay when farmland is bequeathed after a death.
