Farms moving outside family increase by 17%

The number of farmers claiming capital gains retirement relief for selling or transferring land outside of their immediate family has increased by 17%.

The latest figures from the Revenue show that 468 people claimed capital gains retirement relief for passing farms or land outside the family in 2017. Although the number of acres aren’t included, the amount of tax relief claimed amounted to €68m.

In contrast, the number of claims for capital gains retirement relief on land being sold or transferred within the family dropped by 10% to just 264 in 2017.

Farmers under 55 can claim capital acquisitions relief on the disposal of farm assets that don’t exceed €750,000.

The latest figures from Revenue in 2017 also show a 28% drop in the number of people claiming consanguinity (blood-relative) relief on non-residential transfers compared with the previous year.

Just €1.2m was claimed in consanguinity relief in 2017, which marked a 43% drop from 2016.

The largest share of farm taxpayers are aged between 61 and 70, who make up 17% of overall farmers paying tax in 2017.

Meanwhile, the number of young, trained farmers claiming stamp duty relief on farmland dropped by 27% between 2012 and 2017.

Revenue information shows that just 845 young, trained farmers claimed stamp duty relief last year.

However, some €7.8m was claimed in stamp duty relief in 2017, which almost equalled 2012 levels, indicating that although fewer farmers are claiming relief, they are expanding at a higher level than previous years.

Young, trained farmers in Cork were the biggest drivers behind claiming stamp duty relief, with 17.8% of the share in 2017, a marked jump from the 13.4% they held in the previous year, followed by Tipperary with 7.6%.

Galway, Kerry, Sligo and Mayo all saw a decline in the number of young, trained farmers claiming stamp duty relief.

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