Noonan vow on tax reliefs

FARMERS will be breathing a sigh of relief following Finance Minister Michael Noonan’s pledge not to reduce the €100m of annual tax reliefs currently available to farmers.

Speaking at the IFA’s national council meeting in Dublin on Friday, Minister Noonan said that the focus of the taxation review currently under way is looking at re-allocating incentives to maximise growth and productivity in the sector.

The farm organisation is pushing for increased stock relief measures and accelerated capital allowances to allow farmers to invest up to €2bn in their bid to ramp up production over the coming years.

The IFA has also called for the adoption of an Australian model to taxation, where farmers can park a portion of their income in a good year to draw on as a ‘rainy-day’ fund during subsequent bad years. The income would only become taxable in the year that it is being drawn down in the model.

This would be in addition to income averaging that already helps farmers deal with increased price and production volatility which, according to the IFA, puts huge pressure on farm cashflows. IFA president Eddie Downey is also looking for the Capital Acquisition Tax (CAT) exemption thresholds to be reexamined in the context of rising farm asset values. “At a minimum, CPI indexation will have to apply to all assets subject to capital taxes.”