Finance Act 2017

Amendment of section 89 of Principal Act (provisions relating to agricultural property)

72. Section 89 of the Principal Act is amended by inserting the following after subsection (1A):

“(1B) (a) In this subsection—

(i) ‘solar panel’ means ground-mounted equipment used to capture solar energy and convert it into electrical energy together with ancillary equipment used to harness, store and transfer the electrical energy;

(ii) a reference to ‘agricultural land’ is to agricultural land comprised in a gift or inheritance.

(b) Notwithstanding that solar panels are installed on agricultural land, subject to paragraph (d), the land shall be regarded as agricultural land for the purposes of the definition of ‘agricultural property’ in subsection (1).

(c) Where agricultural land on which solar panels are installed is leased, subject to the conditions specified in paragraph (iii) of subsection (1)—

(i) the lessor shall be regarded as having leased the whole or substantially the whole of the agricultural property where less than this amount has been leased, and

(ii) the lessee shall be regarded as satisfying the conditions specified in paragraph (i) or (ii) of subsection (1), as the case may be.

(d) Paragraphs (b) and (c) shall not apply where—

(i) solar panels are installed on more than half the total area of the agricultural land concerned, or

(ii) in relation to the individual referred to in the definition of ‘farmer’ in subsection (1), the conditions specified in paragraph (i), (ii) or (iii) of subsection (1), as the case may be, are not satisfied with regard to the agricultural land on which solar panels are not installed.”.