Bill Burke, farmer’s son, Tipperary
Bill Burke is in the process of having the 150ac family farm transferred to him.
He will turn 35 and complete his Green Cert qualification on the same day next week but, because his father is aged over 67, he does not qualify for any consanguinity stamp duty relief.
The stamp duty office has told him that, as of midnight on Tuesday, he is fully liable for 6% stamp duty.
“That will bring it the stamp duty from just over €25,000 to more than €75,000. It makes it an unpayable amount,” he told the Irish Farmers Journal.
“It had been flagged as a commercial property measure and we assumed that if it applied to farmland, the IFA and the pressure groups would be making noise about it.
“Yesterday, my solicitor and accountant were in a flap until they heard Minister Michael Creed, who was pretty emphatic when he said it did not apply to farmland. We relaxed a bit until my parents heard Paschal Donohoe on TV say it did apply to farmland.”
Joe, Cork farmer
Corkman Joe has agreed to buy a 90ac non-residential farm for €900,000 by private treaty. On Tuesday afternoon, the stamp duty bill on the land amounted to €18,000. However at midnight on Tuesday, the stamp duty tripled to €54,000. At the stroke of a pen, the cost of buying the land jumped by a massive €36,000. Aged 50, Joe does not qualify for the stamp duty exemption for young trained farmers. At this stage he does not know whether the bank will even lend him the extra €36,000 to complete the purchase.
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