Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999 section 81A

Further relief from stamp duty in respect of transfers to young trained farmers

Section 81A provided full relief from stamp duty on the conveyance or transfer of agricultural land to a young trained farmer who met the relevant qualification and farming conditions.

• It provided full relief from the conveyance or transfer on sale stamp duty charge on agricultural land, including appropriate farm buildings and farmhouses, transferred to a young trained farmer.
• A young trained farmer had to be under 35 on the date the instrument was executed and hold a qualifying agricultural qualification listed in Schedule 2A, with alternative routes through course progression or a Teagasc letter.
• The farmer had to certify in the instrument that the section applied and declare an intention, for at least five years, to spend at least 50 per cent of normal working time farming the land and to retain ownership of it.
• A clawback applied if the land was disposed of within five years and not replaced, false declarations carried a 125 per cent penalty, and the relief ceased to have effect for instruments executed after 2 April 2007 (the relief now sits in section 81AA).