NFU SCOTLAND is urging MPs to press for urgent changes to the UK Government’s proposed inheritance tax reforms, warning that the measures as they stand could spell financial disaster for family farms across the country.
The organisation has called for the removal of the controversial anti- forestalling clause within the Finance Bill — a provision NFUS says places elderly and terminally ill farmers in an “intolerable and inhumane dilemma”. Under the clause, those who pass on their farms before April 2026 but do not survive a further seven years could leave their families facing substantial tax demands, creating what NFUS describes as a deeply damaging barrier to responsible succession planning.
NFUS is also pressing for wider changes to the inheritance tax package, including a rethink of the proposed £1M on Agricultural and Business Property Relief. The Union argues that the current plans disproportionately affect working farms, while doing little to curb tax avoidance by non-farming investors. Independent analysis — including work by CenTax — shows alternative approaches could protect genuine family farms while still delivering the revenue sought by the Treasury.
NFUSPresidentAndrew Connon and Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Policy Jonnie Hall are in London today (Wednesday, December 3) for a series of meetings with MPs from across Scottish Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats and the SNP to press the case for change.
Mr Connon said the issue could not be more serious.
“This is a red line for us. As drafted, the Finance Bill risks the break-up of viable family farms and would cause untold damage to rural Scotland.
“The anti-forestalling clause, in particular, is morally indefensible. No tax policy should ever leave a terminally ill farmer financially better off dead than alive — but that is the brutal reality of this proposal. It must be removed.”
The UK Government’s plans have already prompted widespread concern within the farming sector. While a small concession on spouse transfers was announced on November 26, NFUS warns that many of its members still face potential six-figure tax liabilities on land and assets that, in some cases, have been held by the same families for generations.
NFUS says it will continue to work closely with other UK farming unions and cross-party MPs to push for amendments as the Finance Bill progresses through Parliament.
