NFU calls for IHT changes to protect elderly farmers
27th May 2025
The Prime Minister has recently confirmed that the government will make changes to its winter fuel allowance policy for pensioners. With research showing the family farm tax is one of the next most unpopular Budget measures with the public, the NFU is calling on ministers to amend its controversial inheritance tax policy too.
The proposed IHT tax changes could affect as many as 75% of farming families. Despite this, the government has so far refused to publish the financial analysis behind its decision, even after multiple Freedom of Information requests from the NFU and others.
An alternative proposal by the NFU and other tax and farming experts, known as the ‘clawback’, would be cost neutral to the government while avoiding the devastating impact on farming families and rural communities. The government has so far refused to consider it.
Meanwhile, elderly farmers are stuck in an abhorrent position, feeling like a burden on their families ahead of the changes coming into force in April 2026.
READ MORE: Government criticised for lack of transparency in relation to IHT
READ MORE: Government urged to delay IHT changes until 2027
‘Support elderly farmers’
NFU president Tom Bradshaw said that the change shows that the government is willing to listen to concerns about the elderly.
“We’re now urging them to extend that same support to elderly farmers who have spent their lives feeding the nation, and who now find themselves in an incredibly difficult position. Many are deeply worried not just about their own future but about becoming a financial burden on their families.
“Whatever our other disagreements about the family farm tax, we cannot imagine ministers ever meant to put older farmers in this awful position. This is an opportunity to do the right thing.
“We’ve put forward a credible alternative that would protect British farmers without being costly to the government. It’s a fair and balanced solution that should be reviewed,” the NFU president said.
Mr Bradshaw added that “there is still time to change course”.
“Just as the government has listened to the public and MPs on winter fuel payments, it must now listen again to protect the people who have worked the land and produced our food for generations,” the NFU leader concluded.
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