Finance Act 2018

Amendments in relation to certain farming reliefs

48. (1) The Principal Act is amended—

(a) in section 81AA—

(i) in subsection (1), by inserting the following definition:

“ ‘EU Regulation’ means Commission Regulation (EU) No. 702/2014 of 25 June 201416 declaring certain categories of aid in the agricultural and forestry sectors and in rural areas compatible with the internal market in application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union as that Regulation may be revised from time to time;”,

(ii) by inserting the following after subsection (7):

“(7A) The aggregate amount of relief granted to a person under this section and section 667B and section 667D of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 shall not exceed the limit of €70,000 as provided for by Article 18 of the EU Regulation.”,

(iii) in subsection (8), by substituting the following paragraph for paragraph (c):

“(c) the young trained farmer comes within the meaning of microenterprise or small enterprise in Article 2 of Annex 1 to the EU Regulation.”,

(iv) in subsection (11)—

(I) by substituting the following paragraph for paragraph (c):

“(c) This paragraph applies where—

(i) the transferee achieves the standard within the period of 4 years from the date of execution of an instrument to which this subsection applies,

(ii) it is the intention of the transferee, for a period of 5 years from the date on which a claim for repayment under paragraph (d) is made to the Commissioners to—

(I) spend not less than 50 per cent of his or her normal working time farming the land concerned, and

(II) retain ownership of that land,

and

(iii) the transferee—

(I) submits a business plan to Teagasc, and

(II) comes within the meaning of microenterprise or small enterprise in Article 2 of Annex 1 to the EU Regulation,

before a repayment under paragraph (d) is claimed.”,

and

(II) by inserting the following after paragraph (c) (as substituted by clause (I)):

“(d) Where paragraph (c) applies, the transferee may claim a repayment of stamp duty paid in respect of the instrument concerned and the Commissioners shall then cancel and repay any duty that was paid in respect of that instrument.”,

(v) in subsection (12), by deleting paragraphs (e) and (f),

(vi) in subsection (13), by deleting paragraphs (b), (c) and (d), and

(vii) in subsection (16), by substituting “31 December 2021” for “31 December 2018”,

and

(b) in section 81C—

(i) by deleting subsection (7),

(ii) in subsection (9), by deleting paragraph (c), and

(iii) in subsection (10)—

(I) in paragraph (b), by deleting “or (c), as the case may be,”, and

(II) by deleting paragraphs (c) and (d).

(2) Subsection (1)(a)(vii) shall come into operation on such day as the Minister for Finance may appoint by order.

16 OJ No. L193, 1.7.2014, p. 1