Matt Carthy
Question:241. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Finance if the Government intends to extend stock relief for young, trained farmers beyond mid-2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57809/22]
View answerTuesday, 22 November 2022
Questions (241)
Written answers
Stock relief is available to any person carrying on the trade of farming, the profits from which are chargeable to tax under Case I of Schedule D. The person may be an individual or a company, carrying on the trade either solely or in partnership. The amount of stock relief is equal to 25% of the amount by which the value of farm trading stock at the end of an accounting period exceeds the value of farm trading stock at the beginning of the accounting period. The relief is given in the form of a deductible trading expense for the relevant accounting period. General stock relief was extended in Finance Act 2021 to 31 December 2024.
A scheme of enhanced stock relief at the rate of 100% is available under section 667B of the Taxes Consolidation Act (TCA) 1997 for qualifying farmers (who are generally referred to as young, trained farmers) and stock relief at the rate of 50% is available for farmers who are members of a registered farm partnership under section 667C of the TCA 1997. Young trained farmers in a registered farm partnership may claim enhanced stock relief at a rate of 100%. These two reliefs are being extended to 30 June 2023.
Unlike general stock relief, these reliefs are permissible forms of state aid and approval for the relief to be operated is granted in accordance with the EU's current Agricultural Block Exemption Regulation (ABER). The current ABER is due to expire on 31 December 2022, and the 6 month extension to this relief reflects the transitional provisions provided for within the current ABER which allow any exempted schemes to remain exempted during an adjustment period of six months.
The intention is that, once the new ABER is agreed, the relief will be extended to 31 December 2024 so as to align with general stock relief again.