Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 section 659

Farming: allowances for capital expenditure on the construction of farm buildings, etc for control of pollution

Section 659 provided capital allowances (farm pollution control allowances) for expenditure incurred by a farmer on qualifying farm buildings and structures used for the control of pollution, where the expenditure was incurred between 6 April 1997 and 31 December 2010.

• The farmer must have had a farm nutrient management plan drawn up by an approved agency or planner, and must have delivered the plan to the Department of Agriculture before incurring the expenditure; qualifying structures include slurry tanks, soiled water and effluent tanks, dungsteads, yard drains, silos, and housing for cattle or sheep, but not any building used as a dwelling.
• Depending on when the expenditure was incurred, it was written off over eight years (before 6 April 2000), seven years (6 April 2000 to 31 December 2004), or three years (on or after 1 January 2005), with the three-year allowance given at 33⅓ per cent per year.
• For expenditure incurred from 6 April 2000 onwards a farmer could elect to front-load the allowances by taking a flexible "residual amount" (the lesser of 50 per cent of the expenditure or a specified euro cap) in any year of the writing-down period, with the balance written off at the standard rate; once made, this election could not be changed.
• Expenditure met by the State or any other party did not qualify, and a farm pollution control allowance could not be claimed on the same expenditure as an industrial building allowance, a wear and tear allowance, or a farm buildings allowance under section 658.