More than 12,000 people have sent letters to MPs as part of the National Farmers’ Union’s Stop the Family Farm Tax campaign against proposed Inheritance Tax changes.
The public letter campaign, which has a target of 15,000 letters, has seen 551 MPs contacted within just 12 days of its launch.
The letters encourage MPs to watch a BBC Countryfile interview with a Welsh farmer and his father, which the campaign’s website said “highlights the disastrous consequences of the proposed Inheritance Tax changes on their family farm now and in the future, plus the impact on their ability to produce food”.
The government’s proposed reforms have generated widespread opposition from the farming community, but it has defended the scheme as fair and necessary to address fiscal challenges.
From April 2026, the 100% Inheritance Tax relief for agricultural and business property will be restricted to the first £1m of value, with relief halved for properties exceeding this amount.
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In its recent analysis, the Centre for Analysis of Taxation recommended several changes to the government’s proposals, such as a “minimum share rule”.
As previously reported in The Grocer, this would remove the relief for passive investors in farmland and other business assets, funding an extension of 100% relief for farmers and other business owners to £5m per estate.
The president of the NFU, Tom Bradshaw, praised the public for “getting on board” with the letter-writing campaign, and for its “unwavering support for farmers and growers”.
“This awful and unfair tax is going to have so many unintended consequences and the human impact is not being considered by the government,” he said. “You only have to watch the powerful interview with the Rees family on BBC Countryfile to understand how many farming families will be left in the lurch, unable to afford horrendous future tax bills.”
He added: “The budget is just over two weeks away. Even at this late stage, there is still time for government to do what is right and still raise the money that is needed.
“I urge them to review the alternatives that have been proposed by us and others to this totally unfair and damning family farm tax, to make the changes that will back British farming – and back investment in Britain’s future.”
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