Rural Scotland People, Prosperity and Partnership

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Rural Business Units

It has been suggested that commercial activities associated with a rural estate whose predominant activity is husbandry should be assessed as a single trading unit for income tax, capital gains tax and inheritance tax purposes. Under this concept of a Rural Business Unit, income from commercial activities traditionally associated with a rural estate, together with evolving diversified activities, would be treated as trading income. Relevant activities would be eligible for business property relief from inheritance tax and from capital gains tax reliefs. We are considering this case.