The Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) is calling on members to back a campaign urging ministers to reverse inheritance tax plans it fears will lead to reduced investment, forced early business sales, and site closures.
Today, the PRA is sending a template letter to its membership of more than 1,000 retailers that warns Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer of the impact of the proposed changes to business property relief (BPR) from inheritance tax.
From April 6 2026, the changes outlined in Rachel Reeves’ autumn Budget will mean that business and farm assets worth more than £1 million will be subject to inheritance tax at a rate of 20%.
The PRA, which largely represents family-owned businesses, says this could put forecourt operators under pressure to sell before they would want to, cut investment and even close sites.
It says the campaign to reverse the changes is supported by over 40 trade associations, representing over 200,000 family businesses, and spearheaded by Family Business UK. It is calling on the Chancellor for a full and formal consultation on the planned changes.
PRA chief executive Gordon Balmer, who spoke about the plan with Neil Davy, chief executive of Family Business UK, today, says: “We estimate that over 3,000 forecourts in the UK are family run businesses. That’s a third of the network, so we are one of the more critical industries that this will affect.”
He adds: “There are many unintended consequences of the changes. Significantly, it could jeopardise our path to net zero because of a resulting potential under investment in the EV network as families make provision for the greater liability for when the business passes from one generation to the next. Also, it will damage our economy and our energy resilience.”
Family Business UK says that typically family business owners will retain more than 90% of their personal wealth in the business, to fund growth and investment. But to cover the inheritance tax liability, it says, they will be forced to take money out of the business that might otherwise have been invested.
And according to independent economic modelling it commissioned from the CBI Economics, families mitigating the cost of a future inheritance tax bill would lead to an average reduction in investment of 16.5%, staff headcount of 10.2% and turnover of 7.4%.
It suggests that far from raising revenue, the changes to BPR could result in a £1.25 billion net fiscal loss to the Exchequer. The plans, it says, would lead to more than 125,000 job losses and reduce economic activity by £9.4 billion over the course of the Parliament.
Davy says: “The changes to inheritance tax for family businesses and farms are a hammer blow. In many cases, those inheriting the business will have no alternative to sell up when the owner dies, rather than continue running the business.”
He adds: “Already, family business owners are taking decisions to withhold planned investments and are putting recruitment on hold.”
