Succession Farm Partnership Scheme to Open in Early 2017

The Succession Farm Partnership Scheme, proposed by IFA and included in Budget 2016, will open in early 2017, Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed has announced.

The Scheme provides for a €25,000 tax credit over five years to assist with the transfers of farms within a partnership structure.

The scheme was announced in Budget 2016, having been included in IFA’s pre-Budget Submission, but its commencement was subject to EU State Aid approval, which has now been received.

How will the scheme work?

‘Succession Farm Partnership’ is a structure in which eligible persons enter into a partnership, and appropriate profit-sharing agreement, with the provision for the transfer of the farm to the younger farmer at the end of a specified period (not exceeding ten years).

To support this transfer, a tax credit of up to a maximum of €5,000 per annum for five years, can be allocated to the partnership. The partnership model enables a gradual transfer of control and also facilitates knowledge transfer from one generation to another.