What your Green Cert can unlock
Completing the Green Cert gives you the agricultural qualification required for Young Trained Farmer status. Subject to the relevant age, farming, land and scheme requirements, this can help you qualify for valuable supports, including Young Farmer investment grants, Stamp Duty Relief and enhanced stock relief.
This guide explains the key opportunities, who may qualify and where to find the official requirements—so you can understand what completing the Green Cert could mean for your farm and your future.
Figures, rates and deadlines change — always confirm current numbers on Revenue.ie or gov.ie, or ask us at your consultation.
Quick index
- Young Trained Farmer Stamp Duty Relief — 0% stamp duty (instead of the standard 7.5%) on qualifying agricultural land transfers if you’re under 35.
- Enhanced Stock Relief — a 100% tax deduction on the increased value of your farm trading stock.
- CISYF, the Complementary Income Support for Young Farmers — an additional annual CAP payment.
- National Reserve (Young Farmer and New Farmer categories) — access to new or top-up BISS entitlements, with no upper age limit under the New Farmer category.
- TAMS 3 via YFCIS or WFCIS — a grant rate of up to 60% instead of the standard 40%. Your qualification is required for YFCIS, and for WFCIS if you started farming after 2022.
- Succession Farm Partnership Tax Credit — up to €5,000 a year for 5 years, where the successor is under 40.
- Agricultural Relief (CAT) — a 90% reduction in the taxable value of inherited farmland, including land you lease to a qualified or active farmer.
- Consanguinity Relief — a reduced 1% stamp duty rate on farmland transferred between close relatives, with no age limit.
CAP supports
What are BISS, CRISS and the Eco-Scheme — are they Green Cert-relevant?
These are the general CAP payments most active farmers can access — none of them require a Green Cert specifically. BISS (Basic Income Support for Sustainability) is the main basic farm payment, claimed on eligible hectares by an active farmer with payment entitlements. CRISS (Complementary Redistributive Income Support for Sustainability) is a top-up on the first portion of the farm, favouring small and medium-sized farms. The Eco-Scheme is a voluntary annual environmental payment for carrying out specified agricultural practices.
What is CIS-YF, and could I qualify?
CIS-YF (Complementary Income Support for Young Farmers) is an additional CAP payment for farmers under 40 who are educated in agriculture, payable for up to 5 years. Broadly, to qualify you’ll typically need to: have a valid BISS application under a herd number you’re included on, with at least one payment entitlement; be no more than 40 at any time during the year you first apply; be setting up a holding as head of the holding for the first time, or have done so within the preceding 5 years; hold a recognised agricultural qualification at Level 6 or equivalent (which the Green Cert provides) by the scheme deadline; and apply for inclusion under that year’s CIS-YF scheme by its deadline.
Exact deadlines and rates are set annually by DAFM — see gov.ie/DAFM for the current scheme year, or ask us at your consultation.
What's the National Reserve, and which category applies to me?
The National Reserve exists for farmers who have no BISS entitlements, too few, or entitlements worth less than the national average — it can allocate new entitlements or top up existing ones, up to the scheme’s permitted ceiling. Two categories: the Young Farmer Category, for a qualifying young farmer setting up as head of a holding (training is an important element here, and it’s where the Green Cert is most directly relevant); and the New Farmer Category, for someone genuinely establishing a farming business for the first time, even if not under 40 (training rules differ, but the Green Cert can still be relevant depending on conditions).
Important: you can generally only apply to the National Reserve once. Applying early with a small landholding can limit the value of the support you can access later as you acquire more land — get agricultural advice on timing before you apply. See gov.ie — National Reserve, Young Farmer Category.
TAMS grant rates
What TAMS 3 grant rate could I qualify for?
You can look at TAMS 3 a few ways: the Young Farmer Capital Investment Scheme (YFCIS) — for qualifying young farmers who meet DAFM’s definition and training requirements; being under 40 alone isn’t enough, but if you meet the full conditions, the 60% grant rate applies. The Women Farmer Capital Investment Scheme (WFCIS) gives the same 60% rate, up to a €90,000 investment ceiling, to women farmers aged 18–66 who are head of the holding with at least 5ha declared under BISS; women who were farming in 2022 don’t need a qualification, but those who started after 2022 do. Farmers who don’t qualify for either enhanced scheme can still apply for TAMS 3 at the standard 40% rate, and some investments, such as farm safety, solar, organic and low emission slurry spreading equipment, carry a 60% rate for all eligible farmers.
Please verify your own position directly with DAFM or an agricultural adviser. See gov.ie — TAMS 3.
Will I get a herd number after this?
Herd numbers are issued by DAFM under its own criteria — no training provider issues them. The Green Cert supports the wider picture (qualification, credibility, schemes), but the herd number application is a DAFM process. If you intend to become the farmer or holder of the holding, discuss your herd-number application timing with DAFM or your adviser first, since the application date can affect your TAMS “set-up” date. See gov.ie — Apply for a herd number.
Tax reliefs
What's the Young Trained Farmer Stamp Duty Relief?
A 0% stamp duty rate (instead of the standard 7.5%) on the transfer, gift or purchase of agricultural land and buildings. To qualify, you generally need to: be under 35 when the transfer is executed; hold a relevant agricultural qualification (like the Green Cert), or get one within 3 years of acquiring the land; submit a business plan to Teagasc; be registered for Income Tax and act as head of the farm holding; intend to spend at least 50% of your normal working time farming the land; and keep the land for at least five years.
EU State Aid restrictions apply to the total amount of relief you can claim. Official source: Revenue.ie — Reliefs for Farmers.
What's the enhanced Stock Relief?
As a young trained farmer, you can claim a 100% tax deduction on the increased value of your farm trading stock over an accounting period, within certain limits — this helps you reinvest profits directly into growing your herd without an immediate income tax hit. This enhanced relief currently applies for accounting periods ending on or before 31 December 2027. This enhanced relief applies to young trained farmers under 35.
Official source: Revenue.ie — Reliefs for Farmers.
What's the Succession Farm Partnership Tax Credit?
If you’re planning to hand over the farm, you can set up a Succession Farm Partnership — a Registered Farm Partnership recorded with DAFM — where you agree to transfer at least 80% of the farm assets to a chosen successor within a set period. Qualifying partnerships can claim up to €5,000 a year, for five years. The successor must be under 40.
Official source: Revenue.ie — Reliefs for Farmers.
What's Agricultural Relief on leased land?
If you inherit land but don’t intend to farm it yourself, having a Green Cert can make you a “trained farmer” — letting you lease the land out under a qualifying long-term lease while still satisfying Revenue’s Agricultural Relief “active farmer” rules. That protects up to 90% Capital Acquisitions Tax relief on the inheritance, rather than losing it because you’re not farming the land personally.
Timing & age
I turn 35 next year — am I too late?
No — turning 35 doesn’t mean you’re too late for the Green Cert itself. But your age can affect eligibility for certain young-farmer schemes and tax reliefs, so the timing of when you qualify and when you acquire land matters.
For example, Revenue’s Young Trained Farmer Stamp Duty relief requires you to be under 35 when the land transfer takes place — but you can get the qualification within three years of acquiring the land. For DAFM schemes, the young-farmer definition is generally under 40, with a minimum Level 6 agricultural qualification required for certain supports.
If you’re over 40, there can still be good reasons to do the Green Cert: meeting agricultural qualification requirements for certain schemes, and meeting occupational skills and competence rules where a recognised qualification is required.
Does the TAMS clock start when I enrol or when I qualify?
See “What TAMS 3 grant rate could I qualify for?” above — the same three routes apply (YFCIS, WFCIS, standard rate). Your exact set-up date is worth confirming directly with DAFM or an adviser, since it can affect your TAMS timeline.