Forest income in Budget talks

Income averaging for forestry owners remains on the table in Budget talks.

Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney has said income tax rules are leading to piecemeal harvesting of trees, and he confirmed he is asking the Department of Finance to make a commitment on income averaging.

“If there is no income averaging for people in forestry, they will cut a certain amount of trees up until the threshold where taxation kicks in,” he told last week’s Agriculture Committee discussion on his Department’s expenditure estimates for 2015.