Press Release

Tuesday 27th September 2022

MACRA welcomes Government commitment to extend young farmer tax reliefs Reacting to today’s Budget 2023 announcement, MACRA said the Government’s commitment to the extension of various young farmer tax reliefs to assist in addressing generational renewal and the challenges of food production and climate change is welcome.

Speaking after the announcement, MACRA National President John Keane said, the consistency and continuity of young farmer tax reliefs is essential to support generational renewal. MACRA had lobbied for the extension of these reliefs and drew attention to the EU’s review of State Aid supports under the Agricultural Block Exemption Regulation which is due to expire on the 31st December 2022.

Mr Keane said it is now critical that ‘the Government engages proactively with the EU on the Agricultural Block Exemption Regulation with a view to getting an increase in the lifetime threshold for young farmers from €70,000 under State Aid rules to €140,000.”

“The timing of the review of the Agricultural Block Exemption Regulation remains concerning as it coincides with the expiry date of the current Irish young farmer tax reliefs and therefore must not impact on the orderly extension of both young farmer Stamp, Stock and Consolidation reliefs," concluded Keane.