ICOS submitted a pre-budget submission to the Department of Finance in advance of Budget 2016. The ICOS pre-budget submission sets out a range of budgetary supports and agri taxation measures addressing a range of challenges facing the agri food sector from income volatility to environmental sustainability.

The ICOS Pre-Budget Submission includes the following key recommendations to the Department of Finance:

• The introduction of an income deferral scheme managed by co-operatives and based on the Australian Farm Management Deposits Scheme
• Mandatory investments by farmers in their co-op should be treated as an allowable expense
• The introduction of tax relief similar to existing R&D tax credit guidelines, with the specific aim of supporting best practice in environmental sustainability
• Agri-taxation measures related to the long term leasing of land and collaborative farming options should be kept under constant review and updated appropriately
• A new system of tax collection should be established for non-executive/committee members separate to the payroll system
• The introduction of an audit exemption for small co-ops with similar conditions which are presently available to small privately owned companies
• The swift implementation of incentives for the installation of renewable heat and electricity technologies

Please view the ICOS Pre-Budget Submission at the following link: http://www.icos.ie/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/August-2015-ICOS-Pre-Budget-Submission-2016.pdf

By Eamonn Farrell, Agri & Food Policy Executive