Jeremy Clarkson loves life on Diddly Squat Farm – but the costs that come alongside the huge benefits have just got a whole lot bigger for the former face of Top Gear.
Since 2019, 64-year-old Clarkson has run all things to do with producing crops down on his 1,000-acre farm in the heart of England’s Cotswolds.
Amazon Prime Video has been along for the journey, with three seasons of Clarkson’s Farm produced to document his drastic career change.
And with at least two more on the way in 2025 and 2026, there is still plenty to see when it comes to Clarkson’s goings on, whether that be learning the art of farming from Kaleb Cooper or opening up a £1 million pub.
It is likely to also touch on his near-death experience after falling ill on holiday.
But running Diddly Squat Farm just got a whole lot worse for Clarkson and his partner, Lisa Hogan.
Down in the heart of Westminster, a decision taken by Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, changed life for Clarkson some 77 miles away in Oxfordshire.
Announcing a number of measures, Reeves revealed that she was introducing a first of its kind vaping tax that will cost those who partake an arm and a leg depending on how much they like to take up the habit.
Reeves has given her first Budget, the first Labour chancellor to do so in 15 years (Leon Neal/Getty Images)
Away from that, Reeves focused her attention on many other matters – one of them being inheritance tax.
On what is quite an intense subject, Reeves revealed that she was tearing up the rule book when it came to farmland.
Before her announcement, those with farmland benefited from Agricultural Property Relief, which meant there was zero inheritance tax on their land when passing it down to future generations.
Instead, this is no longer the case.
Farms worth up to £1 million will still benefit from the inheritance tax relief. But those worth more will have to pay an inheritance tax rate of 20 percent.
Passing down Diddly Squat Farm to his next of kin just got a whole lot more expensive (PA/Neil Robinson)
“The 100 percent rate of relief will continue for the first £1 million of combined agricultural and business property to help protect family farms and businesses, and it will be 50 percent thereafter,” the government confirmed.
The policy will come in to effect from 6 April, 2026.
Sadly for Clarkson, this means he’s set to lose millions of pounds when he decides to pass on the plot to his next of kin. With it worth a reported £13.5 million, he is looking at an inheritance tax bill of £2.5 million. Ouch.
Taking to his Sunday Times column, Clarkson previously said he ‘liked having the farm for very good reasons’. adding: “There are no death duties on farmland, so my children like me have it too.”
But times, they are a-changing.
Jezza took to X after the Budget, very much holding his tongue at Reeves’ decision.
He wrote: “Rachel Reeves. I literally daren’t comment.”