Farm Restructuring Relief: selling land to consolidate your farm

Sell farmland and buy land nearer your farm within 24 months, with a Teagasc certificate. Capital Gains Tax is then relieved in proportion to what you reinvest.

Farm Restructuring Relief removes some or all of the Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on selling farmland. You must use the money to buy land that brings your holding closer together. It also covers swaps of land with another farmer. The aim is a more efficient, less scattered farm.

The conditions

• the first sale or purchase is between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2029. The matching sale or purchase is within 24 months of it
• the deal reduces the distance between the parcels of land
• you have a Farm Restructuring Certificate from Teagasc confirming that the transaction is for farm restructuring
• the land is used for farming, including woodland that is commercial or kept for conservation

Buildings on the land are not covered.

How much relief

If the land you buy costs at least as much as the land you sell, the relief is full and no CGT is due. If it costs less, the relief is the share of the sale proceeds you reinvested.

An example

A farmer sells 15 hectares nine kilometres away for €300,000 in November 2026. They bought it in 2010 for €160,000 plus €4,000 of costs, and selling costs are €5,000. In 2027 they buy land next to the home farm for €240,000: 80% of the sale price.

The sale came before the purchase, so the farmer pays the CGT first. They claim a refund of the relief once the new land is bought. Had the purchase come first, the relief would be given at the time of the sale.

Clawback

If you dispose of the new land within five years of buying or swapping it, the relief is clawed back. A disposal under a compulsory purchase order doesn't trigger this.

Claiming it

Complete Revenue's Farm Restructuring Relief claim form, include the relief in your CGT calculation, and report it on your return. Revenue's Farm Restructuring Relief page has the form for each year. Budget 2026 extended the separate stamp duty Farm Consolidation Relief to the end of 2029 (Citizens Information).

Work it out

• Capital Gains Tax on property →

Sources

• Revenue: How to calculate CGT (checked 25/10/2026)
• Revenue: When and how do you pay and file CGT? (checked 25/10/2026)
• Revenue: Tax and Duty Manual Part 02-03-01A: Capital Gains Tax rate of charge (S.28) (checked 25/10/2026)

General information, not tax advice. HeyPenny is not a tax agent.