Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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310. To ask the Minister for Finance the changes he may make to the residential land zone tax to allow active farmers continue farming; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7477/25]

Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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311. To ask the Minister for Finance the mechanisms in place for farmers to seek de-zoning of their land to exempt from them from liability to the residential land zone tax; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7478/25]

Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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312. To ask the Minister for Finance if there will be conditions attached to de-zoning requests from farmers in order to qualify for de-zoning; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7479/25]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 310, 311 and 312 together.

Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT) applies to land zoned for residential development, which also has the necessary services in place for the development of housing. The aim of this tax is to increase the supply of land for building. It will be charged at 3% of the market value of the land every year.

Agricultural land which is zoned solely or primarily for residential use meets the criteria set out within the legislation and therefore falls within the scope of the tax. It is important to note that, to come within the scope of RZLT, farmland must be both zoned for residential use and serviced.

There is currently an opportunity for landowners whose land appears on the annual map for 2025 published on 31 January 2025 to request the relevant local authority to change the zoning of the land, including a request to change the zoning to reflect the current economic use of the land. The application must be made between 1 February and 1 April 2025 to the relevant local authority. Where certain conditions are met, a landowner may claim an exemption from RZLT for 2025 on foot of making such a rezoning request. This claim may be made as part of the 2025 RZLT return which must be filed by 23 May 2025.

Local Authorities will consider these requests, having regard to the proposed planning and sustainable development of the area, along with any relevant Section 28 guidelines issued by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. Landowners will be notified of the decision to proceed or nor to proceed with a process to amend the land zoning by 30 June 2025.

As with all taxes, RZLT is under regular review by officials in my department.