Make an IHT plan before signing up to solar leases

摘要

Landowners considering leasing land to a developer for a solar farm need to check the inheritance tax (IHT) relief implications, warns Georgina Heal of accountant Old Mill.With HM Revenue & Customs' scrutiny into claims for agricultural property relief (APR) increasing, grazing livestock around panels may not be enough to protect the APR status, she says."Legislation states that the primary purpose of land qualifying for agricultural property relief must be agriculture, so where solar panels predominate on land leased to a third party the primary purpose points towards leasing rather than agriculture.