BES tax relief for private forestry
O’Malley asked whether the Business Expansion Scheme would cover private afforestation. The Minister said existing tax incentives and current planting levels made an extension unnecessary, particularly given Exchequer constraints.
Will the Minister of State tell us whether the Government have given any consideration to extending the BES scheme to cover private afforestation?
Comment on this
As far as private afforestation is concerned, quite a number of tax incentives already exist and it is not envisaged at present to extend these in the light of the present constraints on the Exchequer. If private afforestation continues to accelerate at its present rate I would see no necessity for providing any further incentives and for that reason the Government will not be considering the extension of the business expansion scheme to cover forestry, at least not for the time being.