Government departments have failed to confirm to Agriland the total amount of farmland that is currently zoned under the Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT).
Instead, Agriland was told that RZLT maps do not provide an indication of the current land use, which means they do not show whether or not land zoned is in agricultural use.
This is according to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage with responsibility for local authorities that publish annual draft maps identifying land within the scope of the RZLT.
The tax will apply from 2025 at a rate of 3% of the land’s market value and is aimed at increasing housing supply by activating zoned and serviced residential development lands (including mixed-use lands) for housing.
Submissions and rezoning requests made by landowners will be considered by local authorities before the annual final map will be published on January 31, 2025, identifying the land liable to the tax on February 1, 2025.
“The draft and final maps published annually by local authorities in respect of RZLT identify land that is zoned for either residential purposes or for mixed use, including residential purposes, based on the zonings included within city/county development plans and local area plans.
“Neither the RZLT maps nor the development plans/local area plans provide an indication of the current use of the land in question, i.e. whether or not it is in agricultural use or any other particular existing use,” the department said.
Farmland zoned under RZLT
When asked by Agriland whether the Department of Finance knows how much farmland is currently zoned, it said that “information relating to mapping is held by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage”.
The RZLT was introduced in the Finance Act 2021. In a statement, the Department of Finance said that “as with all aspects of tax policy, RZLT is kept under review as part of the annual Budget and Finance Bill cycle”.
The Department of Finance said that it “regularly engages” with both the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) on the RZLT measure.
Back in 2023, former Minister for Finance Michael McGrath already confirmed that land which is actively used for farming and is “integral to the use of adjoining lands for farming” is excluded from the RZLT.
DAFM
Agriland understands that Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue raised the issue of the RZLT in his first Budget 2025 meeting with recently appointed Minister for Finance, Jack Chambers.
It is understood that Minister McConalogue told his government colleague that recognition needs to be afforded to farmers that are genuinely farming land in scope for the tax.
When asked by Agriland whether the DAFM is aware of the total amount of farmland currently zoned under the RZLT, it said: “It is actually an issue for the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage”.