Close Asset Management has announced that it is to include commercial farming in its inheritance tax mitigation offering.

Close Trading Companies (CTC) has a portfolio that trades across forestry, managed public houses, self storage, house buying and commercial property development – and now, also, commercial farming.

CTC works by offering an asset-backed trading opportunity to investors which enables them to defer or mitigate a potential IHT liability, after just two years, without having to dispose of their assets.

Steven Oliver, director of property at Close Asset Management, says, ‘No-one else offers an IHT mitigation service as diverse and innovative as Close Trading Companies. Since its launch in 1996, CTC has provided investors with the opportunity to not only mitigate potential inheritance tax liabilities, but also achieve modest returns.’

The farming partnerships will focus on arable and/or pastoral farms where the company can bring new management teams in to rejuvenate the yield and diversify the usage of the property to further enhance the commercial gains available.

Whilst the primary activity of the farms will remain commercial farming, CTC will seek farms, for example, with outbuildings that offer the opportunity for development as farm shops, small offices or holiday rentals. Diversifying the use of the farm, for example with outdoor sports and pursuits, would also be attractive to CTC.

Oliver adds, ‘A further benefit to its inclusion in the CTC portfolio is that farming further diversifies risk as it is not directly correlated to the existing CTC trades, such as residential and commercial developments, commercial forestry, managed public houses and self storage. At present, UK investors have limited opportunities to invest directly in commercial farming.’