Farmers with land falling under the scope of the residential zoned land tax (RZLT) must act before next to apply for their lands to be rezoned, the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has warned.

IFA farm business chair Bill O’Keeffe said this needs to be done regardless of previous applications.

He added that farmers with land that may be impacted by the RZLT should make themselves fully aware of the 2025 updated zoning maps in their county.

These zoning maps were updated in January and lands that are zoned residential and serviced are liable for the tax at 3% of market value.

Regardless of the outcome of the application to rezone, it is the act of applying that will facilitate an exemption from RZLT for farmers in 2025.

Exemption

Minister for Finance Jack Chambers announced this RZLT exemption for landowners in Budget 2025.

In order to avail of this one-year exemption, landowners must make an application to their local authority to have their lands re-zoned based on the current economic activity on the land.

This must be completed by next Monday, 31 March 2025.

Details of how to make a submission for de-zoning are available on the website of each local authority.

The exemption announced in last year’s Budget is only in place for 2025.

Not the solution

The IFA said it believes that hundreds of farmers around the country have land on the outskirts of towns and villages that has been zoned residential, often without the knowledge of the landowner.

O’Keeffe said: “IFA and farmers understand the need to build new homes, but RZLT is not the instrument that will solve the current deficit in housing supply.

“There are many other barriers to the supply of new housing that the Government needs to address. IFA will continue this campaign to have all farmland excluded from the scope of RZLT,” he added.