Capital Gains Tax Exemptions to provide relief for Meath farmers on foot of changes to Common Agriculture Policy – Doherty

Fine Gael TD for Meath East, Regina Doherty, today (Thursday) welcomed the announcement by Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan TD that he intends to provide a capital gains tax (CGT) exemption in this year’s Finance Bill.

“The news of CGT exemptions is really positive news for farmers who dispose of their single farm payment entitlements as a result of changes introduced under the new EU Common Agriculture Policy (CAP).
 
“A technical change made at EU level to the new CAP arrangements for replacing the Single Payment Scheme for farmers with the Basic Payment Scheme, impacts on farmers who let all of their land and has a knock on effect on farm payment entitlements. Due to the changes, farmers in this position will lose their farm payment entitlements and they have been advised by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to sell those entitlements to active farmers. Farmers who take this advice would be subject to CGT.

“The changes to the new CAP would have meant that farmers who lease their land would either lose their farm payment entitlements or they would be forced to sell and be subject to CGT. The Minister for Finance recognised that farmers were unable to prepare for this change and so is making an exemption from CGT available to any chargeable gains arising from the disposal by the owners of payment entitlements under the scheme, where all of those entitlements were leased out in 2013 and where the owners were advised by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to transfer their entitlements.

“Agriculture is a major industry in Co. Meath and farmers in the area should be pleased with this change. The Government is dedicated to supporting and encouraging farmers and in ensuring that economic recovery is felt in all regions and in all sectors. The Minister today has put an end to uncertainty for farmers who are affected.”