Late applications
If you don’t manage to have your application in by Monday’s midnight deadline, you can still lodge it between now and midnight on 9 June. However, every day that passes will attract a 1% penalty. Any application received after 9 June will be rejected unless force majeure is recognised.
Amendments
Made a mistake? Acquiring or disposing of land after Monday’s deadline? You can make an amendment to your application by the end of May. You can do this online or through an amendment form. Late amendments are possible between 1 June and 9 June, but they attract penalties of 1% applying to areas covered by the amendment.
After 31 May and until you start receiving payments under the 2017 BPS, you can make amendments related to reduce your BPS claim without penalty – for example, if you build a house and some of your land becomes ineligible.
The Department may allow so-called “obvious/innocent errors”, such as minor clerical mistakes, on a case-by-case basis throughout the year without penalty.
Preliminary checks
For the second year, the Department will conduct preliminary checks on those applications received online only. Officials have until 12 June to notify farmers of non-compliance detected in the areas of over-claims, dual claims and overlaps. If this is your case, you will then have until 19 June to rectify the issue without penalty.
Pay day
The advance BPS payment is expected in the second half of October, with the balance due in December.