Michael Ring
Question:137 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Finance if he will abolish stamp duty on agricultural land being purchased for the production of organic food. [11578/00]
Written Answers. - Stamp Duty.
At present, there is a full stamp duty relief for young trained farmers on transfers of any type of agricultural land. Under the terms of the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness, this relief was increased from a two-thirds relief to a full relief in the Finance Act, 2000, for three years until 31 December 2002.
For the purposes of the relief a "young trained farmer" is one who is under 35 years of age at the date of execution of the transfer; and is the holder of one of the specified qualifications, e.g. the Teagasc certificate in farming; or if born before 1 January 1968, has three years experience in farming together with satisfactory completion of Teagasc training courses in agriculture and horticulture of 180 hours duration.
Where the transferee has completed at least one academic year of the Teagasc certificate in farming at the date of execution of the transfer, he-she may obtain the relief by way of a refund, provided that the qualification is obtained within three years of the date of execution of the transfer.
The aim of this relief is to promote lifetime transfers of land and encourage more young people to pursue farming. This is a very generous relief and cannot be availed of by any other sector. I have no plans to extend the full stamp duty relief beyond the current scheme.