§ Dr. StrangTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what measures the Government have put in place to ensure that agricultural land giving qualification to inheritance tax relief at 100 per cent. is not being purchased as a means of avoiding inheritance tax relief at 40 per cent.
§ Mr. Nelson[holding answer 19 May 1994]: Qualifying farm land has normally to be owned and farmed by the owner for at least two years before a transfer in order to obtain 100 per cent. relief. This requirement targets the relief at working farms and ensures that speculative investors in land dealing companies do not benefit.