I move amendment No. 24:
In page 18 before section 19 to insert a new section as follows:
"19. —(1) In this section—
‘agricultural property' means agricultural land, pasture and woodland situate in the State and crops, trees and underwood growing on such land and also includes such farm buildings, farm houses and mansion houses (together with the lands occupied therewith) as are of a character appropriate to the property;
‘agricultural value' means the market value of agricultural property reduced by 50 per cent of that value, or by a sum of £100,000, whichever is the lesser;
‘farmer', in relation to a donee or successor, means an individual who is domiciled and ordinarily resident in the State and in respect of whom not less than 75 per cent of the market value of the property to which he is beneficially entitled in possession is represented by the market value of property in the State which consists of agricultural property, livestock, bloodstock and farm machinery, and, for the purposes of this definition, no deduction shall be made from the market value of property for any debts or incumbrances.
(2) In so far as any gift or inheritance consists of agricultural property—
(a) at the date of the gift or at the date of the inheritance; and
(b) at the valuation date,
and is taken by a donee or successor who is, on the valuation date and after taking the gift or inheritance, a farmer, the provisions of section 18 (other than subsection 7 (b) thereof) shall apply in relation to agricultural property as they apply in relation to other property subject to the following modifications—
(i) in subsection (1) of that section, the reference to market value shall be construed as a reference to agricultural value;
(ii) where a deduction is to be made for any liability, costs or expenses, in accordance with subsection (1) of that section, only a proportion of such liability, costs or expenses shall be deducted and that proportion shall be the proportion that the agricultural value of the agricultural property bears to the market value of that property; and
(iii) where a deduction is to be made for any consideration under subsection (2) or (4) (b) of that section, only a proportion of such consideration shall be deducted and that proportion shall be the proportion that the agricultural value of the agricultural property bears to the market value of that property.
(3) Where a taxable gift or a taxable inheritance is taken by a donee or successor subject to the condition that the whole or part thereof will be invested in agricultural property and such condition is complied with within two years after the date of the gift or the date of the inheritance, then the gift or inheritance shall be deemed, for the purposes of this section, to have consisted—
(a) at the date of the gift or at the date of the inheritance; and
(b) at the valuation date.
of agricultural property to the extent to which the gift or inheritance is subject to such condition and has been so invested.
(4) In relation to the deduction, in respect of agricultural property of 50 per cent of its market value, or £100,000, whichever is the lesser, the total amount deductible in ascertaining the agricultural value shall not exceed £100,000, in respect of the aggregate of—
(a) all taxable gifts taken on or after the 28th day of February, 1969; and
(b) all taxable inheritances taken on or after the 1st day of April, 1975.
which consist in whole or in part of agricultural property, taken by the same person, as donee or successor, from the same disponer.
(5) (a) The agricultural value shall cease to be applicable to real property which is agricultural property if and to the extent that the property—
(i) is sold or compulsorily acquired within the period of six years after the date of the gift or the date of the inheritance; and
(ii) is not replaced, within a year of the sale or compulsory acquisition, by other agricultural property,
and tax shall be chargeable in respect of the gift or inheritance as if the property were not agricultural property;
Provided that this paragraph shall not have effect where the donee or successor dies before the property is sold or compulsorily acquired.
(b) If an arrangement is made, in the administration of property subject to a disposition, for the appropriation of property in or towards the satisfaction of a benefit under the disposition, such arrangement shall be deemed not to be a sale or a compulsory acquisition for the purposes of paragraph (a).
(6) For the purposes of subsection (2), if, in the administration of property subject to a disposition, property is appropriated in or towards the satisfaction of a benefit in respect of which a person is deemed to take a gift or an inheritance under the disposition, the property so appropriated, if it was subject to the disposition at the date of the gift or at the date of the inheritance, shall be deemed to have been comprised in that gift or inheritance at the date of the gift or at the date of the inheritance.
(7) In this section, other than in subsection (4), any reference to a donee or successor shall include a reference to the transferee referred to in section 23 (1).".
This is deleting the existing section 19 and putting in a new one. The decision to simplify the test for a "genuine farmer" in both the Wealth Tax and Capital Acquisition Tax meant considerable rewriting of section 19. It was on that account that we decided to put in a new draft. The section now provides special rules for the valuation of agricultural property, as I mentioned earlier to Deputy Callanan, where the agricultural property is taken by a farmer as donee or successor by permitting the deduction of 50 per cent of its market value or £100,000, whichever is the lesser, from its market value in order to arrive at its agricultural value. The section incorporates the provisions of section 18 into this section but with certain modifications. "Agricultural value", as defined in the section, is substituted for "market value" and a proportion only of the debts and liabilities, and of the consideration, is deductible, being the same proportion that the agricultural value bears to the market value of the agricultural property.
The section also provides rules as to where the agricultural value can, in certain other circumstances, be availed of and where, in certain cases, it will cease to apply. A limit of £100,000 is set for the special agricultural deduction in respect of all gifts or inheritances taken by one donee or successor from the one disponer. The purpose of the section is to afford a measure of relief—the Greeks once again—from tax to agricultural property where at least 75 per cent of the gross value of property in the beneficial ownership in possession of the donee or successor consists of such agricultural property and farm stock.