Global Daily Tax News, Ireland Guides On Changes To Farm Consolidation Relief, (Apr 15, 2026)

The Irish Revenue has updated its guidance on Section 81C Farm Consolidation Relief.

Section 81C of the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999 provides for a relief from Stamp Duty to apply where, within a 24-month period, farm holdings are consolidated by way of linked disposals of qualifying land and acquisitions of qualifying land.

One of the conditions of the relief is that it must be the intention of the person acquiring the land to retain ownership of it, and use it for farming, for five years.

Finance Act 2025 provided for the relief to be extended to include transfers of non-commercial woodland. Where the relief is claimed in respect of non-commercial woodland, it must be the intention of the person acquiring the land to retain ownership of it, and use it for conservation purposes, for five years.

Finance Act 2025 also provided for a four-year extension of the relief so that it will apply to instruments of transfer executed on or before December 31, 2029.

Stamp Duty Manual Part 7: Section 81C - Further farm consolidation relief has been updated to reflect the Finance Act 2025 changes to Section 81C. In addition, the examples in the document have been updated with the intention of providing greater clarity on how the relief operates in respect of multiple transactions.