The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has confirmed that payments from the fuel subsidy scheme will be subject to “tax rules”.
Farmers, agricultural and forestry contractors had until midnight on Tuesday 2 June to apply to the Fuel Income Support Scheme.
The payout rate is expected to be 20 cents per liter of green diesel used, based on verified fuel consumption in 2025.
The payments will cover the months from March until the end of July.
It is estimated that about 120,000 farmers and 1,500 full-time agricultural contractors will be eligible to apply for support.
According to Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Haydon, there has been a “strong response” to the support plan.
The minister had previously said the average contractor could receive “a payment of more than €6,000 with larger contractors potentially receiving multiples of that” from the Fuel Income Support Scheme.
He also noted that “the average payment to farmers is about 650 euros.”
Fuel chart
According to the DAFM, the Fuel Income Support Scheme was introduced “as a targeted income support to assist farmers and agricultural/forestry contractors facing unprecedented increases in fuel costs.”
In a statement to Agriland The department also explained that “tax liability is a matter for the Revenue Commissioners but payments under the scheme are direct income support and will therefore be subject to the same tax rules as other support payments issued by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.”
To be eligible for this scheme, farmers, agricultural and forestry contractors must prove that they:
- Actively farming in 2025, or beginning actively farming in 2026;
- Cultivation continued actively in 2026;
- In the case of contractors, they must be VAT registered, tax compliant and carry out agricultural contracting in primary production (including forestry) on farms.
