The delay to the implementation of changes to key farm transfer reliefs has been broadly welcomed by farm organisations.
An Taoiseach Simon Harris announced that the finance bill has been amended to delay the implementation of the eligibility rules for these reliefs at the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) Farming and Food Conference in Kildare on Thursday.
IFA farm business chair Bill O’Keeffe said that while the IFA was keen to ensure that agricultural relief was targeted towards genuine farmers, the decision to take more care over the detail was the correct one.
“[The] IFA [has] engaged with the Department of Finance since the budget was announced on 1 October and highlighted the unintended consequences that these changes in requirement to qualify for agricultural relief would cause many genuine farmers,” O’Keeffe said.
“[The] IFA’s position is that agricultural relief must be retained for genuine farmers, as it a vital tax relief that allows for the transfer of farms from one generation to the next,” he said.
He said that the IFA has convened the concerns of many farmers and their financial advisers, who have been extremely concerned that many genuine farmers would not meet the proposed six-year donor active farmer test announced in this year’s budget.
[The] IFA’s position is that agricultural relief must be retained for genuine farmers
“It is good that Government have listened to the concerns raised by [the] IFA and that the necessary time will now be allowed to ensure that any changes to agricultural relief will not affect genuine farm transfers in the future,” O’Keeffe said.
However, he said it is important that the issue is not left on the back burner.
“There must be changes to ensure the relief is targeted to genuine farmers and not open to non-farmer investors. Engagement must continue to find a clear wording that achieves this,” he concluded.
ICMSA
The president of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) Denis Drennan has welcomed the move.
Drennan said that the ICMSA had noted and highlighted several instances in which the proposed changes would have impacted bone fide farm family successions.
He said that while the association agreed with and heartily endorsed the stated aim of curbing the use of the relief measures by high-net-worth non-farming individuals as a means of passing on wealth, the measures proposed were simply not targeted and would effectively ‘hit’ genuine and non-genuine alike.
Drennan said that the Government’s decision to pause the measures was a timely recognition of that flaw.
He also noted that the commission on generational renewal set up to look at the specific problems around farm succession had several recognised financial experts who would surely be happy to "fine tune" the proposals so as to deal with the unacceptable situation that had non-farmers trying to avail of relief measures intended to facilitate farm succession.
The ICMSA president said that the commission was scheduled to report back in the second quarter of next year and he trusted that its recommendations would be included and acted upon in the following budget.
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The delay to the implementation of changes to key farm transfer reliefs has been broadly welcomed by farm organisations.
An Taoiseach Simon Harris announced that the finance bill has been amended to delay the implementation of the eligibility rules for these reliefs at the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) Farming and Food Conference in Kildare on Thursday.
IFA farm business chair Bill O’Keeffe said that while the IFA was keen to ensure that agricultural relief was targeted towards genuine farmers, the decision to take more care over the detail was the correct one.
“[The] IFA [has] engaged with the Department of Finance since the budget was announced on 1 October and highlighted the unintended consequences that these changes in requirement to qualify for agricultural relief would cause many genuine farmers,” O’Keeffe said.
“[The] IFA’s position is that agricultural relief must be retained for genuine farmers, as it a vital tax relief that allows for the transfer of farms from one generation to the next,” he said.
He said that the IFA has convened the concerns of many farmers and their financial advisers, who have been extremely concerned that many genuine farmers would not meet the proposed six-year donor active farmer test announced in this year’s budget.
[The] IFA’s position is that agricultural relief must be retained for genuine farmers
“It is good that Government have listened to the concerns raised by [the] IFA and that the necessary time will now be allowed to ensure that any changes to agricultural relief will not affect genuine farm transfers in the future,” O’Keeffe said.
However, he said it is important that the issue is not left on the back burner.
“There must be changes to ensure the relief is targeted to genuine farmers and not open to non-farmer investors. Engagement must continue to find a clear wording that achieves this,” he concluded.
ICMSA
The president of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) Denis Drennan has welcomed the move.
Drennan said that the ICMSA had noted and highlighted several instances in which the proposed changes would have impacted bone fide farm family successions.
He said that while the association agreed with and heartily endorsed the stated aim of curbing the use of the relief measures by high-net-worth non-farming individuals as a means of passing on wealth, the measures proposed were simply not targeted and would effectively ‘hit’ genuine and non-genuine alike.
Drennan said that the Government’s decision to pause the measures was a timely recognition of that flaw.
He also noted that the commission on generational renewal set up to look at the specific problems around farm succession had several recognised financial experts who would surely be happy to "fine tune" the proposals so as to deal with the unacceptable situation that had non-farmers trying to avail of relief measures intended to facilitate farm succession.
The ICMSA president said that the commission was scheduled to report back in the second quarter of next year and he trusted that its recommendations would be included and acted upon in the following budget.
Read more
Tightening of agri relief changes delayed to allow for consultation
News Podcast: UK inheritance taxes, TB and the Taoiseach on farming
UK farms to face huge inheritance tax bills
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