Capital Gains Tax (CGT) reliefs

Farm Restructuring Relief

You may claim relief from CGT if you dispose of farmland for farm restructuring purposes.

The purpose of farm restructuring is to make your farm more efficient (improve the operation and viability of the farm). You can do this by selling and purchasing or exchanging parcels of land to bring them closer together. A parcel of land is an entire agricultural field or group of fields used for farming purposes.

The relief provides:

  • full relief from CGT when the purchase price exceeds the sales price
  • partial relief on CGT when the purchase price is lower than the sale price. (Relief is given in proportion to the amount of the sale proceeds reinvested in purchasing a new parcel of farm land.)

You might also qualify for relief on stamp duty on the purchase of the new parcel of land.

How do you qualify for the relief?

The first sale or purchase must occur between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2022. The next sale or purchase must occur within 24 months of the first.

You may also be able to claim relief where you exchanged land with another person.

Note

The sale and purchase or exchange must result in a reduction in the distance between parcels of land.

This includes land that has been leased for at least two years with a minimum of five years to run.

You must have a Farm Restructuring Certificate issued by Teagasc. This certificate must state that you carried out the transaction for farm restructuring purposes.

Relief is given at the time of the:

  • sale of the land, if the purchase takes place before the sale
  • exchange, where land is exchanged simultaneously.

How to claim the relief

You must complete a Farm Restructuring Relief Claim Form. Include the relief when you calculate your CGT and file your return.

CGT refund

You might sell a parcel of land and pay CGT before you purchase a new parcel land. You can claim a refund when the purchase of a new parcel of land takes place.

Clawback

You might dispose of land that you purchased or exchanged within five years of the date of purchase or exchange. If you do, there will be a clawback of the Farm Restructuring Relief.

This does not apply where you sell the land under a compulsory purchase order.

Next: Revised Entrepreneur Relief