Stamp Duty and farming
Young Trained Farmer Relief
You may be eligible for Young Trained Farmer Relief if you purchase agricultural land or receive agricultural land as a gift. The legislative basis for this relief is contained in Section 81AA of the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act, 1999.
Agricultural land can include farmhouses and buildings on the land if they are of a character appropriate to the land. The relief is not available in respect of woodland.
An overview of Young Trained Farmer Relief can be found below. For further information, please see the Revenue guidance document.
Qualifying conditions
To qualify:
- You must be under 35 years old.
- You must hold a trained farmer qualification or another approved agricultural qualification (please see the Revenue guidance for full details).
- You must intend to:
- retain ownership of the land for 5 years
- and
- farm the land, on a profitable basis, for not less than 50% of your normal working time for 5 years (active farmer condition).
- You must have submitted a business plan to Teagasc.
In addition to the above, the relief is restricted to micro, and small, enterprises.
These conditions must be met on the date of execution (signed, sealed or both) of the deed transferring the agricultural land.
The deed transferring the land must be executed (signed, sealed or both) by 31 December 2029.
Calculation of relief
If you qualify for the relief, you will not have to pay any Stamp Duty up to a lifetime limit. The lifetime limit is currently €100,000, and takes into account the total amount of relief granted to you under:
- Example
Sarah buys a dairy farm for €3 million. She qualifies for Young Trained Farmer Relief. Sarah has not previously claimed the relief. In addition, she has not claimed any stock relief or the tax credit for succession farm partnerships. Therefore, the maximum amount of relief that Sarah can claim is €100,000.
Sarah must pay Stamp Duty in the amount €125,000. Without the relief, the amount of Stamp Duty due would be €225,000 (7.5% of €3 million).
Approved agricultural qualification obtained on a later date
If you do not hold an approved agricultural qualification on the date of execution of the deed, you do not qualify for the relief. However, if you obtain such a qualification within 3 years, you may be entitled to claim a Stamp Duty refund. Please see the Revenue guidance for further details on how to claim a repayment.
Farming through a company
You may meet the active farmer condition if you:
- lease the land to a company you are actively involved in
- and
- farm the land through the company.
Joint ownership
You can qualify for the relief if the land is transferred into joint ownership and:
- all of the joint owners are young trained farmers
- or
- one of the joint owners is a young trained farmer and the other joint owner is their spouse or civil partner.
Consanguinity Relief
You may be entitled to claim Consanguinity Relief and Young Trained Farmer Relief on the same transaction.
Withdrawal of relief
If you have claimed Young Trained Farmer Relief, you will have to repay it if:
- you dispose of the land within 5 years and do not replace it with other land
- or
- you do not actively farm the land for 5 years.
Interest may also be payable.
You will not have to repay the relief if you:
- dispose of your interest in the land to a joint owner
- or
- create a joint tenancy with your spouse or civil partner.
Next: Consanguinity Relief