Farm Tax Act , 1985

1 Interpretation.

1.—(1) In this Act, save where the context otherwise requires—

“adjusted acre” and “adjusted acreage” have the meanings respectively assigned to them by section 2 of this Act;

“agriculture” means husbandry and includes horticulture, fruit growing, seed growing, dairy farming and livestock breeding and keeping and the use of land as grazing land, meadow land, osier land, market gardens and nursery grounds;

“agricultural land” means land wholly or mainly used, or reasonably capable of being wholly or mainly used, for the purposes of husbandry, but does not include land developed as commercial woodland or for use wholly or mainly for sport;

“agricultural land holding” means the aggregate of the land in the occupation of the same person or persons;

“classification list” has the meaning assigned to it by section 4 of this Act;

“the Commissioner” means the holder of the office of Farm Tax Commissioner established by section 14 of this Act;

“farm tax” means the tax chargeable by virtue of section 9 of this Act;

“functions” includes powers and duties and references to the performance of a function include references to the exercise of a power and the carrying out of a duty;

“interest”, in relation to farm tax, means interest payable under section 11 (7) of this Act in respect of farm tax;

“local authority” means the council of a county, the corporation of a county or other borough or the council of an urban district;

“the Minister” means the Minister for the Environment;

“occupier”, in relation to land, an agricultural land holding, or part of such a holding, or a taxable farm, means the person entitled to the immediate use or enjoyment of the land, the holding or the farm, as may be appropriate, whether actually used or enjoyed or not, and—

(a) where a person is in possession of land or such a holding or farm in the capacity of an employee or agent of, or a trustee or caretaker for, another person, that other person shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to be entitled to the immediate use or enjoyment of the land, holding or farm, and

(b) where a person is in possession of land or such a holding or farm as a personal representative of a deceased occupier thereof or is in adverse possession of land or such a holding or farm, he shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to be entitled to the immediate use or enjoyment of the land, holding or farm, and

(c) where a person is in possession of land or such a holding or farm under a letting in conacre or for the purposes of agistment or for temporary depastureage, the person from whom he holds it shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to be entitled to the immediate use or enjoyment of the land, holding or farm:

Provided, however, that where the land, holding or farm is subject to a discretionary trust (within the meaning of the Capital Acquisitions Tax Act, 1976, as amended) and no person is in possession of it as of right, the trustees of the trust shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to be entitled to the immediate use or enjoyment of the land, holding or farm,

and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;

“prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister;

“prescribed by the Minister for Finance” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister for Finance;

“taxable farm” has the meaning assigned to it by section 3 of this Act;

“revision list” has the meaning assigned to it by section 7 (5) of this Act;

“the Tribunal” means the Farm Tax Tribunal established by section 8 of this Act.

(2) (a) Subject to paragraph (b) of this subsection a person connected with another person shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to be the same person as that other person.

(b) Where—

(i) a person who is the occupier of an agricultural land holding is a relative (within the meaning of section 16 (3) of the Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1968, as modified by paragraph (c) of this subsection) of a person who is the occupier of another agricultural land holding, and

(ii) each holding is farmed and managed by its occupier separately from the other holding,

the first-mentioned person shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, not to be connected with the second-mentioned person.

(c) Any question whether a person is connected with another person shall, for the purposes of this Act, be determined in accordance with section 16 (3) of the Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1968, subject to the modification that “relative” in the said section 16 (3) shall be construed as including a direct descendant of a brother or sister.

2 Adjusted acre.

2.—(1) In this Act, subject to subsection (2) of this section, “adjusted acre” means any area of agricultural land (whether equal to or greater than one acre) the estimated capacity of which for agricultural production is equivalent to the capacity for such production of one acre of land capable of the estimated highest such production in the State and “adjusted acreage”, in relation to an agricultural land holding, means the total area of agricultural land of that holding expressed in adjusted acres.

(2) In estimating, for the purposes of this section, the capacity for agricultural production of land in any place—

(a) regard shall be had to—

(i) the range of uses to which the land can be put for the purposes of agricultural production,

(ii) the adequacy of the means of access to the land, and

(iii) the following, and any other natural phenomena affecting the capacity of the land for agricultural production:

(I) the nature and quality of the soil,

(II) the location and climate of the place,

(III) whether the land is flat or sloping and, if it is sloping, the direction and the degree of the slope,

(IV) whether the land is sheltered and whether the land is overlooked by hills or mountains,

(V) the structure of the agricultural land holding of which the land forms part,

(VI) the natural drainage of the land and any arterial, local or other drainage affecting the land and provided by a State authority (within the meaning of the State Property Act, 1954) or a local authority,

(VII) the adequacy of the water supply to the land, and

(VIII) the accessibility of the land to, and its capacity to support, farm machinery and farm stock and to resist damage to it by farm machinery and farm stock,

(b) it shall be assumed that the land has been, is being and will continue to be, farmed, and that the land and the business of farming the land, has been, is being, and will continue to be, managed reasonably and reasonably efficiently, and

(c) (i) if investment in the land is at a level that is higher than a reasonable level for land generally or falls short of such a level, any capacity of the land for agricultural production, or any lack of such capacity in the land, that is attributable to the part of such investment that is higher than such reasonable level as aforesaid, or, as the case may be, to the short-fall shall be disregarded.

(ii) In subparagraph (i) of this paragraph “investment”, in relation to land, means investment in the land in respect of—

(I) the application of fertilisers or other substances for improving the land for agricultural use,

(II) the levelling and general reclamation of the land,

(III) the clearance of boulders, stones, trees, weeds, gorse or other unwanted vegetation from the land,

(IV) the provision and maintenance of a supply of water and of drains and ditches for the land,

(V) the cutting of hedges on, and the provision and maintenance of shelter for, the land,

(VI) the construction and maintenance of farm buildings, yards, slurry or silage pits and roadways on the land, or

(VII) the provision of machines (including farm machinery) for use on the land,

or in respect of other similar matters.

3 Taxable farm.

3.—(1) In this Act, subject to the provisions of this section, a “taxable farm” means an agricultural land holding which is listed in a classification list or classification lists and the adjusted acreage of which is not less than 20 adjusted acres.

(2) Where—

(a) an agricultural land holding (referred to subsequently in this subsection as the first-mentioned holding) listed in a classification list or classification lists is occupied by two or more persons, whether as joint tenants, tenants in common or otherwise, and

(b) one of the persons (referred to subsequently in this subsection as the first-mentioned person) is the sole occupier or an occupier as a joint tenant, tenant in common or otherwise with one or more other persons (one, at least, of whom is not the same person as the person or one of the persons who is the other occupier or one of the other occupiers of the first-mentioned holding) of another agricultural land holding listed in a classification list or classification lists, the local authority or local authorities in whose functional area or functional areas the first-mentioned holding is situated shall, after consultation with the Commissioner apportion the adjusted acreage of the first-mentioned holding between the persons occupying it in such manner as the authority or authorities aforesaid considers or consider just and shall, within 14 days of such apportionment, send by post or give to the occupiers of the first-mentioned holding notice in writing, and particulars in writing, of the apportionment and, in relation to the first year for which farm tax in respect of the first-mentioned holding is, after the receipt by those occupiers of such notice, demanded and each subsequent year—

(i) the adjusted acreage so apportioned to the first-mentioned person shall be added to the adjusted acreage, apportioned under this section where appropriate, of the other holding of the first-mentioned person,

(ii) the total such acreage referred to in paragraph (i) of this subsection shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to constitute one agricultural land holding and to have an adjusted acreage equal to the sum of the adjusted acreages aforesaid, and

(iii) the adjusted acreage of the first-mentioned holding so apportioned to the first-mentioned person shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, not to be part of the adjusted acreage of the first-mentioned holding.

(3) An area larger than 20 adjusted acres may be prescribed, by the Minister for Finance, for the purposes of subsection (1) of this section and subsection (3) of section 4 of this Act for any year during the period from the passing of this Act to the end of the year immediately following that in which the compilation of the classification lists is completed, and those subsections shall, for any year for which an area stands so prescribed as aforesaid, have effect as if the area standing so prescribed were substituted for the area for the time being specified in those subsections.

4 Classification of agricultural land holdings.

4.—(1) The Commissioner shall compile a list (to be known as a classification list) in such form as may be determined by the Minister for Finance in respect of the functional area of each local authority in the State of every agricultural land holding in that functional area the adjusted acreage of which is determined under subsection (3) of this section and (as respects such holdings parts of which are situated in the functional areas of more than one local authority) of the part in that functional area.

(2) Each classification list shall be signed by the Commissioner and shall state the name, address and description (in so far as they are known to the Commissioner) of any owner and occupier, the acreage, the adjusted acreage (as determined by the Commissioner under this section) and the location, of each agricultural land holding, or part of such a holding, listed in the list.

(3) The Commissioner shall determine the adjusted acreage of—

(a) every agricultural land holding the adjusted acreage of which is not less than 20 adjusted acres,

(b) every agricultural land holding the adjusted acreage of which is less than 20 adjusted acres but is such that, if it were added to the adjusted acreage of any part or parts of an agricultural land holding or holdings apportioned under section 3 of this Act to the person who occupies the first-mentioned holding, the total of the adjusted acreages would, in the opinion of the Commissioner, be not less than 20 adjusted acres,

(c) every agricultural land holding which is occupied by two or more persons whether as joint tenants, tenants in common or otherwise and the adjusted acreage of which is such that, if it were apportioned under section 3 of this Act and the part so apportioned to any of those persons were added to the adjusted acreage of any other agricultural land holding or holdings, apportioned under the said section 3 where appropriate, occupied by that person, the total of the adjusted acreages, as so apportioned where appropriate, would, in the opinion of the Commissioner, be not less than 20 adjusted acres,

and, as respects such a holding situated in the functional area of more than one local authority, shall determine the adjusted acreages of the parts of the holding in each such area.

(4) The Commissioner may, if he thinks it appropriate to do so, determine the adjusted acreage of an agricultural land holding under this section and list the holding and enter the particulars in relation thereto specified in subsection (2) of this section in a classification list notwithstanding the fact that—

(a) owing to having been prevented from doing so, no officer has, pursuant to section 17 of this Act, entered the holding for the purposes of this section, or

(b) in response to a request for information by an officer of the Commissioner under the said section 17, no information in relation to the land, or information in relation to the land that is inadequate, false or misleading in a material particular, has been furnished to any such officer under that section.

(5) The Commissioner—

(a) shall, as soon as may be after the 1st day of September, 1986, but not more than one month after that date, send to the local authorities to whose functional areas they relate copies of the classification lists compiled under this section during the period ending on that date, whether or not the compilation has in each case been completed,

(b) shall, as soon as may be after the 1st day of March, 1987, but not more than one month after that date, send to the local authorities to whose functional areas they relate copies of the classification lists the compilation of which was continued under this section during the period of 6 months ending on that date, whether or not the compilation has in each case been completed,

(c) shall, as soon as may be after the 1st day of September, 1987, but not more than one month after that date, send to the local authorities to whose functional areas they relate copies of the classification lists the compilation of which was continued under this section during the period of 6 months ending on that date, whether or not the compilation has in each case been completed, and

(d) shall, as soon as may be after each subsequent 1st day of September until the compilation of all the classification lists has been completed, but not more than one month after each such date, send to the local authorities to whose functional areas they relate copies of those classification lists the compilation of which was continued during the periods of 12 months ending on those dates.

5 Display of classification lists.

5.—(1) A local authority shall, within 14 days of the receipt by it of a copy of a classification list compiled under section 4 (1) of this Act—

(a) publish a notice in a newspaper circulating in its functional area stating that a copy of the list may be inspected at specified offices of the local authority in that area between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on specified days during the 21 days immediately following such publication, and

(b) send by post or give to each owner and occupier of an agricultural land holding, or part of such a holding, specified in the list of whose existence and name and address it is aware and to whom such a copy has not previously been sent under this paragraph a copy of the particulars in the list relating to the holding or part.

(2) A copy of a classification list referred to in a notice under subsection (1) of this section shall be made available for inspection by members of the public at the offices, on the days and between the times, specified in the notice and members of the public shall be permitted to enter those offices and inspect the copy on the days and between the times aforesaid.

6 Appeals in relation to classification lists.

6.—(1) (a) An owner or occupier of an agricultural land holding, or part of such a holding, listed in a classification list may, by notice in writing, sent by post or given by him or on his behalf to the Commissioner, within 28 days of the first publication pursuant to section 5 of this Act following such listing of a notice in respect of the list, appeal against any of the particulars entered in the list in relation to the holding, or the part.

(b) A local authority may, by notice in writing sent by post or given to the Commissioner, within 28 days of the publication pursuant to the said section 5 of a notice in respect of the relevant classification list—

(i) appeal against any of the particulars in the list in relation to any agricultural land holding, or part of such a holding, in its functional area listed in the list, or

(ii) apply for the listing in the list of an agricultural land holding, or part of such a holding, not previously so listed and for the entry in the list of the relevant particulars in relation to such holding or part,

and, upon receipt of a notice under this paragraph, the Commissioner shall, as soon as may be, cause a copy of the relevant particulars therefrom to be sent by post or given to any owner or occupier, whose name and address are entered in the list or specified in the notice, of the agricultural land holding, or part of such a holding, concerned.

(2) A notice under subsection (1) of this section shall contain the particulars, where appropriate, entered in the relevant classification list of the agricultural land holding, or part of such a holding, to which the appeal or application concerned relates and particulars of the amendment sought and of the grounds for the appeal or application.