Why is the Irish Farmer essentially tax exempt?

[cambridgefergal]

I mean, to quote Monty Python, what have the Farmers ever done for us?

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opi ... 25689.html

I live in England, and we recently had an orchestrated press campaign on behalf of the non-dom "wealth creators, risk takers and entrepreneurs" when the government dared propose that they might, like, just pay a weeny weeny bit of tax. The Sky Will Fall, Everyone Will Leave, it's Little People Who Pay Taxes, How Naive Can You Be were the stock responses to this proposal. Naturally, in the end, the spineless New Labour Government backed down.

Irish Farmers have been playing the same game for years, with the same playbook of stock responses. However, unlike non-doms, they can't realistically leave. Nevertheless, they have the same magic cloak of Tax Immunity. This issue is as absurd and patently unjust as the whole Dublin Taxi plate saga was. But will it ever be remedied? Why does every government of every hue determinedly ignore this issue? Why does every other non-farming voter, who spends a lifetime paying farmers' share of tax as well as their own, let them get away with it?

[NotDevsSon]

I mean, to quote Monty Python, what have the Farmers ever done for us?

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opi ... 25689.html

I live in England, and we recently had an orchestrated press campaign on behalf of the non-dom "wealth creators, risk takers and entrepreneurs" when the government dared propose that they might, like, just pay a weeny weeny bit of tax. The Sky Will Fall, Everyone Will Leave, it's Little People Who Pay Taxes, How Naive Can You Be were the stock responses to this proposal. Naturally, in the end, the spineless New Labour Government backed down.

Irish Farmers have been playing the same game for years, with the same playbook of stock responses. However, unlike non-doms, they can't realistically leave. Nevertheless, they have the same magic cloak of Tax Immunity. This issue is as absurd and patently unjust as the whole Dublin Taxi plate saga was. But will it ever be remedied? Why does every government of every hue determinedly ignore this issue? Why does every other non-farming voter, who spends a lifetime paying farmers' share of tax as well as their own, let them get away with it?

Why is the average farmer tax-exempt?

1. They aren't.
2. A large majority of farmers have farm incomes of circa €17,000pa. From that money comes basic expenses to run a farm, none of which non-farmers face. The average worker earning €17,000 would not out of that have to pay vet's fees, Artificial Insemination fees, maintenence fees for a farm yard, the cost of buying farm animals and/or harvesting crops, the costs of hay or silage, the costs of running a tractor, the costs on occasions of hiring labour, plus insurance costs for the farm, its buildings, its animals, etc.
3. A significant minority have incomes below the minimum wage.
4. A small minority have very large incomes. Urban dwellers think the large ranchers are typical of the average farmer. They could not be more wrong. That is like thinking that the pay to the Board of Directors of the Bank of Ireland is typical of the wages of Bank of Ireland employees.

IF farmers were all creaming it and making a fortune, the number of farmers would be doing up. Instead they are in freefall. It doesn't take a brain-surgeon to see why.

You want farmers to pay income tax? Fine. Give them an income to pay income tax on.

Your post is the standard moan that comes from people who haven't a clue about the realities of the agricultural economy.

[cyberianpan]

From your post it would certainly seem that farmers don't pay taxes. Then why do they share in this State ?

Wouldn't it be lovely to go off and farm in green countryside and have all the "city workers" pay for your healthcare, pension, children's allowance and children's education ?

It is long time for farmers to start carrying their weight.

CyP

[Corcaigh33]

Because up to the late 80's and early 90's, the Farmers were the equivalent of benchmarking and social partnership.
How to hold a country to ransom? either be a farmer up to the early 90's or a public servant since then.

[Cowensdoublechin]

Because up to the late 80's and early 90's, the Farmers were the equivalent of benchmarking and social partnership.
How to hold a country to ransom? either be a farmer up to the early 90's or a public servant since then.

And before that it was the landlords or protestants. I'm not a fan of socialism but are we every going to have an Ireland where everyone is treated the same!! Not paid the same- just treated the same!

[MichaelHennigan]

Why is the average farmer tax-exempt?

1. They aren't.
2. A large majority of farmers have farm incomes of circa €17,000pa. From that money comes basic expenses to run a farm, none of which non-farmers face. The average worker earning €17,000 would not out of that have to pay vet's fees, Artificial Insemination fees, maintenence fees for a farm yard, the cost of buying farm animals and/or harvesting crops, the costs of hay or silage, the costs of running a tractor, the costs on occasions of hiring labour, plus insurance costs for the farm, its buildings, its animals, etc.
3. A significant minority have incomes below the minimum wage.
4. A small minority have very large incomes. Urban dwellers think the large ranchers are typical of the average farmer. They could not be more wrong. That is like thinking that the pay to the Board of Directors of the Bank of Ireland is typical of the wages of Bank of Ireland employees.

IF farmers were all creaming it and making a fortune, the number of farmers would be doing up. Instead they are in freefall. It doesn't take a brain-surgeon to see why.

You want farmers to pay income tax? Fine. Give them an income to pay income tax on.

Your post is the standard moan that comes from people who haven't a clue about the realities of the agricultural economy.

Data issued this weekshows that 36,400 more commercial, full-time farms are the key performers in Irish agriculture, and their 2007 incomes ranged from €66,000 on tillage farms to €53,800 on specialist dairy farms and €17,700 on suckler farms. Direct payments on full-time farms contributed 62% of farm income. This income is net after overheads.

The Department Of Agriculture says that focusing on farm income alone suggests that there is a high proportion of low income farm families, however, data on consistent poverty shows that farm households tend to have much lower rates of consistent poverty than other urban or rural households. This has been a pattern for a number of years and suggests that farm households have lower rates of basic deprivation than other household groups.

Also, the risk of poverty was lower among farm households than other household groups when compared at the 60% relative poverty line.

So a small number are coining from huge rezoning gains; the highest compensation for roadbuilding in Europe and possibly in the world?? A big jump in English land prices in recent years that has been attributed to purchases by Irish farmers.

With Irish land the most expensive in Europe, even for the part-timers, it's a hell of a lot better setup than many in the private sector.

Ever met a farmer's son or daughter driving their own car into college while on a grant?

Do the hundreds of thousands of self-employed who have no valuable land bank to fall back on in the event of illness, merit any concern?

[Schuhart]

With Irish land the most expensive in Europe, even for the part-timers, it's a hell of a lot better setup than many in the private sector.

Indeed, yet we even seem to have our WTO negotiating team beavering away against the Irish interest by demanding continued protection of farmers, as if this was still our most promising export industry.

If agriculture is our most promising export industry, prepare yourself for a third world standard of living.

[soubresauts]

I must raise that old question, which became modern again earlier this week:

Is the frog the farmer's friend?

[junketman]

Farmers have lots of outgoings which I am sure are written off against tax otherwise farming wouldn't be viable.

[mairteenpak]

The prices paid for farmland, as opposed to hand with development potential, of up to €20,000 an acre are an indicator of the profitability of farming.

Farmers can pass on large estate to children without inheritance tax or gift tax liability.