Farm Finance: Is it time to restrict tax reliefs for family farms?

Over the past few decades, an expansion of tax reliefs has facilitated the infiltration of non-farmer landowners, with active farmers increasingly being priced out of the land buying market, writes Kieran Coughlan

Maybe now is the time to consider whether there should be a restriction on reliefs to favour land purchase by active farmers, or at a minimum away from the super wealthy.

Over the past few decades, an expansion of tax reliefs has facilitated the infiltration of non-farmer landowners, with active farmers increasingly being priced out of the land buying market.

Derisory financial returns from many of the commercial enterprises which occupy most farmers, along with a need to invest in mechanisation to overcome a tightening of labour supply have seen farm profits typically recycled into machinery and building infrastructure rather than into land purchase.