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Ifac issue BISS advice to Wicklow farmers with deadline fast-approaching

Tom Doyle, Partner at Ifac’s Wicklow office.

Myles Buchanan
© Wicklow People

Wicklow farmers are being reminded by ifac, Ireland’s farming, food and agribusiness specialist professional services firm, not to miss the May deadline for the Basic Income Support Scheme (BISS).

The BISS was launched last year to replace the BPS from previous years. The deadline to apply for the scheme is May 15.

Tom Doyle, Partner at ifac in Wicklow said: “This is one of the most important dates for farmers in the farming year. This is the deadline for declaring the land you are farming in the year 2024 and, therefore, enabling receipt of your BISS monies in October and December.

“As shown in numerous ifac Irish farm Reports, BISS is crucial to the financial viability of many farms in Ireland. It can be an incredibly stressful time for farmers if this application is incorrect and monies are withheld next October, December.”

Farmers should be asking themselves and their agri-advisors some basic questions before submitting their applications, such as are you farming more or less land than last year and are you leasing in and out land that wasn’t previously on the application? Also, if you have bought, sold, inherited or were gifted land in the last year, have you transferred it to BISS correctly.

When completing a BISS application, employ a good agri-advisor to help you complete your application. This is money very well spent considering the importance of the payment to the financial well-being of the farm.

If transferring BISS to a new entity (LTD, partnership, joint herd, family member etc) please ensure that both your accountant and agri-advisor are aware of what’s happening. One of the most common mistakes with farmers changing business structure is neither their accountant nor agri-advisor is aware of what each one applying for. This can have very serious impacts on both Revenue and the Department of Agriculture and could result in significant taxes and losses in BISS if completed incorrectly.

Mr Doyle added: “At ifac, it is standard practice that we consult with our client’s agri-advisors in times of change in the farm to ensure that BPS is not jeopardised in any way and also to ensure no undue taxes are incurred in the change.”

This year the Department of Agriculture require all applications to be made online. The Department is running several helplines nationwide to assist farmers in this regard.