Push for €10,000 tax credit to include early succession partnerships
The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association (ICMSA) has called for an enhanced tax credit to be made available to all eligible farm succession partnerships.
Under Budget 2027, the tax credit for farm partnerships registered on the succession farm partnership register on or after January 1, 2027 will be increased from €5,000 to €10,000 per annum.
This enhanced rate will be available for up to 5 years.
The income tax incentive is designed to encourage farmers to transfer the farm business to their identified farming successor in a planned and timely manner.
Farm partnerships
However, the ICMSA Farm Business Committee chair Pat O’Brien said the approach taken by government is unfair to those who have already engaged in farm succession partnerships.
He said the "specific anomaly" in the Finance Bill 2026 needed to be changed "as a matter of urgency".
"Only succession farm partnerships registered in 2027 will be able to avail of the new €10,000 succession tax credit.
"Registered succession farm partnerships before 2027 will be subject to the old €5,000 tax credit for the remaining period – we think that’s fundamentally unfair and actually disadvantages those interested parties who were first to engage," he said.
O'Brien questioned why a small number of farm partnerships who showed early commitment to the Succession Partnership Scheme should not be able to avail of the higher tax credit.
"It’s an extraordinary position to take. It makes absolutely no sense and actually disadvantages the people who were first to agree with you," he said.
Succession
The ICMSA committee chair said the sector cannot accept "even the appearance of a two-tier system", given that succession is one of the greatest challenges facing Irish agriculture.
"Farm succession is a massive issue for the sector, and it would cost relatively little to ensure that existing succession partnerships are treated equally and receive the same €10,000 tax credit as new entrants.
"These farmers are owed that recognition and deserve to be treated on the same basis as everyone else.
"We estimate that the increase in the tax credit from €5,000 to €10,000 will cost just €910,000 based on participation levels up to the end of 2025," he said.
O'Brien said participation in farm partnerships is expected to increase after the removal of the three-year limit and the doubling of the tax credit.
He called on the government to "do the right thing" and amend the legislation to ensure that all qualifying succession farm partnerships, regardless of when they registered, are eligible for the increased €10,000 tax credit from 2027.
