Tax reliefs critical to land transfers and farm inheritance were left largely unchanged by Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe and Minister for Public Expenditure Michael McGrath.

Consanguinity relief, which had been due to expire at the end of the year, was renewed for a further three years to the end of 2023.

The relief applies to the transfer of farmland between certain blood relatives, whereby the applicable rate of stamp duty is reduced from 6% to 1%.

The consolidation relief on stamp duty was extended, which allows farmers to pay a lower rate of 1% on land transactions for farm consolidation for two years.

The 1% rate will be in place until the end of 2022 and that renewal date will coincide with the renewal date for capital gains tax reliefs.

VAT change

The farmers’ flat rate of VAT is to increase from 5.4% to 5.6% from 1 January 2021.

The earned income tax credit for the self-employed is to be equalised with the PAYE credit, an increase of €150 to €1,650.

In other taxation moves, the threshold for Employers’ PRSI will rise by €3/week to €398/week and the dependent relative tax credit for people who care for a dependent relative will treble from €70 to €245 per year.