The Department of Finance will consider extending the stamp duty exemption on transfers of land to young trained farmers in Budget 2019.

This is stated in a wide-ranging report published by the Department’s tax strategy group on the options for the upcoming budget.

The stamp duty relief for young farmers is due to expire at the end of 2018. The cost of the measure to the Exchequer is €24m per annum. The strategy group said that renewal of the relief is crucial to the policy objectives of the agri-taxation review and to the continued sustainable development of the sector as per Food Wise 2025.

Other reliefs

Among the other reliefs the group looked at was 90% agricultural relief from capital acquisitions tax. Reducing its scale from 90% to a lower figure would boost yield from the tax, it said.

“Reducing agricultural relief from 90% to 80%, for example, would result in an estimated additional yield of €7.7m for the full year 2018,” it said.

“However, it could have a negative impact on the development and growth of family businesses.”