In 2009, Jeremy Clarkson bought a "farm" for £4.25 million, featuring a six-bedroom mansion with a swimming pool, tennis court, orchard, croquet lawn and five parking spaces. At the time he crowed he'd never have to pay any taxes on it. And back then he could easily afford it, making £14 million per year hosting "Top Gear," probably the most watched television show on the planet at the time.
During the Thatcher years, in 1984, Inheritance Tax Relief was introduced so that wealthy landowners could protect their estates under the guise of protecting farmers. Forty years on, and it's still in place.
Source: Hello!
Jeremy Clarkson, 64, joined fellow farmers on Tuesday in London to protest about the so-called 'tractor tax' that the Labour government is implementing. He was left in hot water when BBC journalist Victoria Derbyshire asked him: "Is it not about you? About your farm because you bought a farm to avoid inheritance tax?"
Victoria pushed him on his own comments regarding inheritance and the acquisition of Diddly Squat, and he clapped back with: "I wanted to shoot," claiming that the inheritance tax situation is only an incidental benefit of the situation.
He has since clarified: "The only reason I said that is because I actually bought the farm because I wanted to shoot, but you can't go around saying, 'Oh, I wanted to shoot' because then you get shouted at by animal enthusiasts.
