Zoned Land Tax Must Not Apply to Agricultural Land

IFA Farm Business Chairperson, Rose Mary McDonagh, has called on the Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe, to clarify that all agricultural land actively farmed will not be subject to the new Zoned Land Tax (ZLT). This tax was announced in last week’s Budget.

The Minister stated that the ZLT could apply to any land with “residential” contained in its zoning status and is also serviced.

“Thousands of farmers have land on the outskirts of towns and villages around Ireland that may be both zoned residential and serviced. If this zoned land is agricultural and being actively farmed, it is not being hoarded as an investment and must be excluded for this new ZLT. Once the land is included on a Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) application, it is clear that it is farmed agricultural land,” she said.

She said, “We need to learn from past policy ambiguities. When the vacant site levy was initially introduced, IFA had to engage intensively with the Department of Finance to ensure that agricultural land was, rightly, excluded. The same clarity is needed in this instance”.