IFA brands Smith as mischievous

IFA president Padraig Walshe said Minister for Agriculture Brendan Smith, in presenting income tax payments as a measure of farmers’ contribution to the national economy, was being mischievous and misleading.

Mr Walshe queried why the minister did not tell the public the truth on farm taxation, when the average family income from farming is a mere 18,100, compared with the public sector, where the average is €48,300. He called on Mr Smith to produce the full facts, including the number of part-time farmers paying PAYE income tax, that do not appear in the Department’s statistics.

“There is no mystery about the low tax yield from farmers; the real problem is low incomes and the minister should face up to this,” he said.