Revenue has estimated that 111 farms worth over €1m changed hands last year and made use of consanguinity relief to avoid a large tax bill on the transfer.

This is estimated to account for 6% of land transfers using the relief and marks a more than doubling of the number of farms valued at over €1m since 2017.

The rise in the use of the consanguinity relief is attributed to the surprise hike in stamp duty in Budget 2018 from 2% to 6%.

Consanguinity relief allows blood relatives to transfer farms at a reduced rate of 1% stamp duty, as opposed to the standard 7.5%.

Extension

The relief has been extended until the end of 2023, but Revenue has been considering raising the rate of stamp duty on land transfers worth over €1m to 2% when consanguinity relief is used.

While this proposal was deliberated in Budget 2021 by Revenue, it pointed out that one of the drawbacks would be the “strong resistance” that farm organisations would pose to any hike in the rate.