Farmers are being urged to make themselves aware if any of their land falls within the scope of the Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT) before March 31.

The Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) has told farmers whose land may be impacted to check the updated 2025 zoning maps in their county, on which the tax will be based.

The maps were updated in January. Lands that are zoned residential and serviced are liable for the tax at 3% of market value.

In Budget 2025, then Minister for Finance Jack Chambers announced an exemption for landowners.

In order to avail of this one-year exemption, landowners must make an application to their local authority to have their lands re-zoned based on the current economic activity on the land.

Landowners with affected land must apply before March 31 to their county council to de-zone their land, if they wish to avail of this exemption under the RZLT.

Details of how to make a submission for de-zoning are available on the website of each local authority.

The IFA said that "hundreds of farmers" around the country have a land on the outskirts of towns and villages that has been zoned residential, claiming this was often done "without the knowledge of the landowner".

The IFA said that the exemption in Budget 2025 is only in place for this year, and that it is campaigning for a "permanent solution" that will remove farmland from the scope of RZLT.

Bill O'Keefe, the farm business chairperson with the IFA, said: "IFA and farmers understand the need to build new homes, but the RZLT is not the instrument that will solve the current deficit in housing supply.

"There are many other barriers to the supply of new housing that the government needs to address," he said.

O'Keefe added: "It is important that farmers realise they must act before the March deadline and apply for their lands to be rezoned, regardless of previous applications."

The IFA said that, regardless of the outcome of the application to rezone, it is the act of applying that will facilitate an exemption from the scope of RZLT for landowners in 2025.

The IFA's comments have been echoed by senator Victor Boyhan, who said that farmers actively working their lands "should never have been included in the tax".

"Expecting farmers to pay 3% of the value of their land in an annual tax that bears no relation to the income earning potential from their land in wrong," Boyhan said.

He called for a "robust appeals process so that farmers and landowners can challenge or amend final maps yet to be fully agreed or exempted".

"I am appealing to Revenue to hold off on any RZLT charges while a farmer is in the process of appealing their inclusion for RZLT," he said.