Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 February 2019
54. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Finance if a farm restructuring and completion agreement that was completed in August 2018 would qualify for a stamp duty rebate; if so, the process involved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7431/19]
View answerI assume the Deputy is referring to the measure introduced in Finance Act 2017 to allow a farmer to claim relief from stamp duty where he or she both sells and purchases land for the purposes of consolidating an existing farm holding. Although this measure was not commenced until 1 August 2018 by Ministerial Order, it applies to all qualifying transactions that took place on or after 1 January 2018.
There are a number of conditions that must be satisfied for the relief to apply. There must be both a sale and a purchase of land within a period of 24 months of each other. Where other qualifying conditions are satisfied, stamp duty is chargeable only to the extent that the value of the land that is purchased exceeds the value of the land that is sold. A reduced rate of 1% is charged on the excess, if any, of the purchase value.
An important condition for the relief is that Teagasc must issue a certificate stating that a sale and purchase (or an exchange of farmland) was made for farm consolidation purposes. The criteria to be used by Teagasc for this purpose and the information to be supplied to Teagasc are contained in guidelines published by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Following the farm consolidation, a farmer must retain ownership of the farmland for a period of five years and must use the land for farming. Where any part of the land is disposed of before the end of this five-year holding period, the stamp duty relieved can subsequently be recovered by Revenue, or partly recovered, as appropriate.
Where land was purchased before land was sold, or both transactions took place on or after 1 January and before 1 August 2018, and stamp duty at the rate of 6% was paid on the purchase value, eligible farmers may claim a refund from Revenue. A refund claim is to be made on a self-assessment basis where the qualifying conditions for the relief are satisfied.
An amended stamp duty return should be filed through Revenue’s online system (ROS) and the relief claimed on the return. Information on how to amend a return is contained on the Revenue website. Following the filing of the amended return, a refund claim should be made in writing to Revenue. The claim should set out the basis for the refund and include:
- a certified copy of the deeds effecting the sale by the farmer and the purchase by the farmer;
- a valid Teagasc certificate; and
- a written declaration by the purchaser confirming that it is the intention of each person to retain ownership of his or her interest in the qualifying land and use the qualifying land for farming for a period of 5 years from the date on which the first claim for relief (including a refund claim) is made in respect of the qualifying land.
The claim should quote the Document ID that is on the return.
