Farmers are being invited to attend an online information meeting on the Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT) taking place next week.
The event, talking place on Wednesday, January 31, is being hosted by the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) to update farmers impacted by the tax.
The RZLT will apply to land that is zoned for residential use and has access to services such as water supply, roads and lighting.
It is being introduced as part of the government’s Housing for All plan to activate land for residential development throughout the country.
The tax – which will be calculated at 3% of the market value of land “in scope” – will operate on a self-assessment basis.
As part of Budget 2024, the government announced that it would extend the liability for landowners impacted by the RZLT by one year until February 2025.
This will allow landowners more time to engage with local authorities on the issue and to potentially seek re-zoning.
RZLT
Speaking in advance of the online meeting, IFA Farm Business Committee chair Bill O’Keeffe said that draft revised final RZLT maps will be published on Thursday, February 1.
Landowners who are impacted by the tax can make submissions on these maps up to April 1, 2024.
“The briefing, which begins at 11:00a.m, is an opportunity for those affected by this tax to understand the process and what they need to do to get their land removed from the liability.
“Senior officials from both the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Department of Finance have agreed to attend, present and take questions at this meeting.
“We hope this will bring clarity to the process for those farmers affected,” O’Keeffe said.
IFA solicitor James Staines and IFA senior policy executive Karol Kissane will also partake in the meeting.
O’Keeffe added that the IFA has been lobbying “for some time” to get “all genuinely-farmed land removed from this tax”.
“This work will continue, and I encourage all who may be affected to join this meeting,” the IFA chair added.
Farmers can register for the online meeting on the IFA website.
Farmland
Independent TD Seán Canney recently asked Minister for Finance Michael McGrath to amend the RZLT rules on land used for active farming.
In response, the minister said that for farmland to fall under the scope of the tax it must be both zoned for residential use and serviced.
“Agricultural land which is zoned solely or primarily for residential use meets the criteria set out within the legislation and therefore falls within the scope of the tax.
“Agricultural land that is zoned for a mixture of uses including residential is not in scope,” he said.
Minister McGrath noted that decisions on whether to amend zonings as a result of submissions or at any other time are a matter for the local authority.
Appeals
Last November, An Bord Pleanála confirmed to Agriland that it received over 650 appeals from landowners across the country in relation to the RZLT.
The vast majority of the appeals, made by landowners to An Bord Pleanála during April and May, relate to draft RZLT maps drawn up by local authorities.
There are 21 further appeals from landowners related to supplementary maps.
Of the 653 appeals made from March 26 to September 1 2023, the planning board decided to confirm the determination of the local authority and rejected the appeal in 447 cases.
In 117 cases, the board set aside the determination of the local authority and allowed the appeal of the landowner.
There were 34 cases in which the board partly allowed the appeal.