Finance Act 2013

Farm taxation.

20.— (1) Chapter 2 of Part 23 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) in section 666(4)—

(i) in paragraph (a) by substituting “31 December 2015” for “31 December 2012”, and

(ii) in paragraph (b) by substituting “year 2015” for “year 2012”,

(b) in section 667B by substituting the following for subsection (1):

“(1) In this section ‘qualifying farmer’ means an individual—

(a) (i) who in the year of assessment 2007 or any subsequent year of assessment first qualifies for grant aid under the scheme of Installation Aid for Young Farmers operated by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine under Council Regulation (EEC) No. 797/85 of 12 March 1985 1 or that Regulation as may be revised from time to time, or

(ii) who—

(I) first becomes chargeable to income tax under Case I of Schedule D in respect of profits or gains from the trade of farming for the year of assessment 2007 or any subsequent year of assessment,

(II) has not attained the age of 35 years at the commencement of the year of assessment referred to in clause (I), and

(III) at any time in the year of assessment so referred to satisfies the conditions set out in subsection (2) or (3),

and

(b) who, where the requirements of subparagraph (i) or (ii) of paragraph (a) are first satisfied in the year of assessment 2012 or any subsequent year of assessment (in this paragraph referred to as the ‘first year of assessment’), submits a business plan to—

(i) Teagasc, for the purpose of this section, or

(ii) Teagasc or the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, for any other purpose,

on or before 31 October in the year following the first year of assessment.”,

(c) in section 667B(5)(b) by substituting “31 December 2015” for “31 December 2012”,

(d) in section 667B by inserting the following after subsection (5):

“(5A) (a) In this subsection—

‘qualifying period’, in relation to a qualifying farmer, means the year of assessment in which an individual becomes a qualifying farmer and each of the 3 immediately succeeding years of assessment;

‘relevant tax’ means any income tax or universal social charge;

‘relief’ means an amount equivalent to an amount determined by the formula—

A — B

where—

A is the amount of relevant tax that would be payable by a qualifying farmer for a year of assessment falling within the qualifying period computed as if subsection (5) had not been enacted, and

B is the amount of relevant tax payable by the qualifying farmer for that year of assessment.

(b) Where a qualifying period commences in the year of assessment 2012 or any subsequent year of assessment, the qualifying farmer shall be entitled to relief in respect of deductions under section 666(1), by virtue of subsection (5), of an amount not exceeding—

(i) in the aggregate in the qualifying period, €70,000, and

(ii) in any one year of assessment falling within the qualifying period, €40,000.”,

(e) in section 667B(6) by substituting “in paragraph (a)(ii)(III) of the definition of ‘qualifying farmer’ in subsection (1)” for “in paragraph (b)(iii) of the definition of ‘qualifying farmer’ in subsection (1)”,

(f) in section 667B by inserting the following after subsection (6):

“(7) This section shall apply to a qualifying farmer who comes within the definition of ‘small and medium-sized enterprises’ in Article 2 of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1857/2006 of 15 December 2006 2 , and in respect of whom subsection (5) applies for the year of assessment 2012 or any subsequent year of assessment.”,

(g) in section 667C(1) by substituting the following for the definition of ‘registered farm partnership’:

“ ‘registered farm partnership’ means—

(a) a milk production partnership within the meaning of the European Communities (Milk Quota) Regulations 2008 ( S.I. No. 227 of 2008 ), and

(b) a farm partnership included on a register of farm partnerships established by regulations made under subsection (4A).”,

and

(h) in section 667C by inserting the following after subsection (4):

“(4A) (a) The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (in this subsection referred to as the ‘Minister’), after consultation with and with the approval of the Minister for Finance, may by regulations establish and maintain a register of farm partnerships (in this subsection referred to as the ‘register’) and those regulations may provide for—

(i) the form and manner of registration of a farm partnership on the register,

(ii) the conditions with which a farm partnership shall comply,

(iii) the minimum and maximum number of persons who may participate in a farm partnership,

(iv) the assignment of a unique identifier to a farm partnership included on the register,

(v) procedures for addressing non-compliance with the conditions referred to in subparagraph (ii), and

(vi) such supplemental and incidental matters as appear to the Minister to be necessary and appropriate.

(b) Every regulation made under this subsection shall be laid before Dáil Éireann as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation is passed by Dáil Éireann within the next 21 days on which Dáil Éireann has sat after the regulation is laid before it, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under the regulation.”.

(2) (a) Paragraphs (a) to (f) of subsection (1) come into operation on such day or days as the Minister for Finance may by order or orders appoint and different days may be appointed for different purposes or different provisions.

(b) Paragraphs (g) and (h) of subsection (1) have effect from the date of passing of this Act.

1 OJ No. L93, 30.3.1985, p.6

2 OJ No. L358, 16.12.2006, p.7