Farmers urged to be aware of updated zoning maps

Cavan IFA Farm Business Chair Owen Brodie has urged farmers to make themselves fully aware of the 2025 updated zoning maps in their county. The reminder is for farmers with land that may fall under the scope of Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT).

The maps, updated in January, show lands that are zoned residential and serviced which are liable for the tax at 3% of market value. Following intensive lobbying on the tax by IFA last year, the then Minister for Finance Jack Chambers announced an exemption for landowners in Budget 2025.

In order to avail of this one-year exemption, landowners must make an application to their local authority to have their lands re-zoned based on the current economic activity on the land.

Mr Brodie stressed that landowners with affected land must apply before March 31 to their local County Council to de-zone their land, if they wish to avail of the exemption.

Details of how to make a submission for de-zoning are available on the website of each local authority.

“IFA believes that hundreds of farmers around the country have land on the outskirts of towns and villages that has been zoned residential, often without the knowledge of the landowner,” Mr Brodie said, adding that “it is important that landowners check the zoned land maps in their county.”