The government’s new Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT) will force families to sell land “that has been in their family for generations,” one farm organisation has warned.
According to the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) the RZLT, which will come into force from next February, is “unjust” and needs to be addressed.
Supplementary RZLT maps have been published this week by a number of local authorities.
The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has advised landowners to carefully check these maps to see if the maps apply to them.
The supplemental maps identify additional lands, zoned residential or mixed use, which may be subject to this tax.
The government has claimed that the aim of the tax “is to activate land for residential development throughout the country, rather than to raise revenue”.
RZLT
But the ICMSA said while it understands that there is a housing crisis the RZLT, as it currently stands, is a “direct attack on individual farm families”.
The tax – which will be calculated at 3% of the market value of land “in scope” – will operate on a self-assessment basis and according to Revenue, farmers and landowners will be able to register for the tax from late-2023.
Shane O’Loughlin, business committee chair of the ICMSA, said the reality now facing some farmers is that they could potentially have to pay €450 per acre from next year “even though their land will not be used for residential purposes”.
“ICMSA is calling for a change to government policy whereby if Revenue and the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine confirm land is being actively farmed by its owner of 10 years standing, that the land would be excluded from this tax.
“Through the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS), DAFM have a record of farmers who say they are actively farming,” O’Loughlin added.
He believes that if the land, which has been zoned, was claimed in relation to BISS then it should be exempt from the RZLT.
“This makes a valid system that is straight forward to administrate,” O’Loughlin added.