Rachel Reeves hammerblow as JCB threatens to quit Britain | UK | News

The heir to JCB’s vast manufacturing empire has warned that Rachel Reeves’ Inheritance Tax policy could force the UK-based business to move to America. From April, only the first £2.5 million of a business’s assets after the owner’s death will be eligible for tax relief; the rest is taxed at 20%.

But Jo, son of JCB chairman Lord Bamford, says Britain risks losing one of its biggest success stories to the US because of more favorable tax rates. He said family tax was a “real problem” and that the firm, based in Staffordshire, “could easily become an American company”.

he said city ​​AM: “I love being in England.

“I love being here. I love our factories. But I can say to any political party that ultimately there is a lot you can do.”

Mr Bamford, who sits on the board of the company his grandfather founded in 1945, said JCB could consider leaving the UK because of the inheritance tax levies faced by family businesses affiliated with the Labor Party.

The threshold was initially set at £1 million but Chancellor Rachel Reeves was forced into an embarrassing reduction amid anger from farmers.

“When you go after family businesses or farms or any of those two things, it’s pretty contentious, but you want people to hold on to those things for the long term.”

Farms and family-run businesses such as JCB were previously protected from tax, with tax breaks allowing them to be passed down through generations.

But they were targeted by the Labor government in the Autumn 2024 Budget in a bid to make the system “fairer” and reduce the “generous” tax breaks enjoyed by large estates.

The move comes amid concerns that the current policy is open to abuse by the super-rich, who can preserve wealth and avoid inheritance tax by buying farmland.

A Treasury spokesman said: “We listened and increased the aid threshold to £2.5 million to protect more small family businesses, while ensuring the largest ones make a fair contribution so we can offer support to families and businesses, including reducing living costs.”