The Residential Zoned Land Tax, that has caused uproar among farmers in recent months, is set to be deferred.
Agricultural Minister Charlie McConalogue, along with Minister for Finance Jack Chambers and Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien, are working to exclude active farmland from Residential Zoned Land Tax in the upcoming Budget.
The tax was due to be brought in with the intention of increasing housing supply and encouraging development of lands that have been serviced and zoned (either wholly or partly) for residential use.
The amount of tax a farmer would have to pay is calculated at 3% of the market value of land within its scope.
Reacting to the news, Fianna Fáil Senator Lisa Chambers said that ‘the pausing and deferral of RZLT by another 12 months and the design of a new RZLT system that excludes active farmland will give certainty to farmers’.
She will be meeting with members of the Irish Farmers Association in Mayo today along with the Finance Minister to discuss the various issues facing farmers and of course the RZLT.
Senator Chambers has been speaking to Midwest Radio’s Rian Bailey:
