Local TD, Denis Naughten has welcomed changes to the farm tax proposals announced in the recent budget which ensures that young farmers can avail of a number of land access tax reliefs.

“Under the original proposals announced in the budget part time farmers were excluded from availing of long term farm leases & land transfers. The exclusion of this group would disproportionally affect farming in the West of Ireland” said Denis Naughten.

On foot of questioning by Deputy Naughten, Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan, has outlined changes to the legal definition of an active farmer which will provide a number of options to allow young farmers to qualify for tax relief. They are

-work a maximum of 20hrs per week on the farm or farm related activities

-hold a green cert in agriculture or similar qualification

Farmers have 4 years from the time they receive the land to gain the above qualifications.

And finally, a person who receives the land can also avail of the tax reliefs if they lease out the land for 6 years or more to a farmer who meets the 20hr or the green cert rule.

Minister Noonan pointed out that the underlying objective of these reliefs are to ensure that younger farmers access land in order to make their farm business more efficient & viable.

Denis Naughten has welcomed the commitment that he has received from Minister Noonan, which will address the concerns that have been raised by some farm families.

See the discussion here: http://youtu.be/4bstS87Bz8I