NFU Scotland (NFUS) is urging MPs to call for changes to the UK Government’s proposed Inheritance Tax (IHT) reforms, warning that the current plans risk financial devastation for family farms across Scotland.
NFUS is calling for the removal of the ‘anti-forestalling clause’ in the Finance Bill, which creates what the Union describes as an "intolerable and inhumane dilemma" for elderly and terminally ill farmers. The clause penalises those who pass on their farms before April 2026 but do not survive a further seven years, creating an unintended but deeply damaging disincentive to responsible succession planning.
The Union is also calling for wider changes to the IHT package, including revisiting the proposed £1 million cap on Agricultural and Business Property Relief (APR/BPR). NFUS argues that the current approach unfairly targets working farms while doing little to stop tax avoidance by non-farming investors. The proposals will also impact the viability of family farms across rural Scotland. Independent analysis, including from CenTax, has demonstrated that alternative approaches exist that would both protect genuine family farms and deliver necessary tax revenues.
NFUS President Andrew Connon and Deputy CEO and Director of Policy Jonnie Hall are in London today (Wednesday 3 December) for a number of meetings with MPs from Scottish Labour, the Scottish Conservatives, the Scottish Liberal Democrats and the SNP to push for these changes.
Andrew Connon, President of NFU Scotland, said:
“This is a red line issue for us. The Finance Bill, as drafted, risks the break-up of viable family farms, and does untold damage to rural Scotland.
The anti-forestalling clause, in particular, is morally indefensible. No tax policy should ever place a terminally ill farmer in the position of being financially better off dead than alive. That is the brutal reality this clause creates – and it must be removed.”
The UK Government’s proposed IHT reforms have sparked significant backlash across the farming sector. Despite a narrow concession on spouse transfers made on 26 November, a large number of NFUS members could still face potential six-figure tax liabilities on land and assets that have been in families for generations.
NFUS is continuing to work with the other UK farming unions and cross-party MPs to coordinate amendments to the Finance Bill ahead of its next stages in Parliament.
Notes to editors:
- A photograph taken at Westminster featuring NFU Scotland President Andrew Connon; Richard Baker MP; Irene Campbell MP; Alan Gemmell MP; and Jonnie Hall, Deputy CEO, is attached.
Ends
Contact Carly Ross on 07860 642826