New tractor tax ‘stiff’ on farming community says Mourne MP (1968)

Mr James O’Reilly (Nationalist, Mourne), moving his amendment – to keep the tax at the current rate – said it was merely a form of protest against the added taxes on the agricultural community in Northern Ireland.

“In Northern Ireland we have about 35,000 tractors,” Mr O’Reilly said “and the tax on these tractors at the rate of £5 each amounts to £175,000. That is a very stiff tax on the agricultural community.”

Pointing out that it was quite impossible for the farmer to do without a tractor, Mr O’Reilly continued: “If he is carrying on any particular farm business he cannot do without one.

“ There have been taxes on tractors. Not so long ago the tax was 50s and the present proposal would mean that it would go up by 100 per cent. Nothing that the farmer sells had gone up by 100 per cent.

“Large sections of the farming community are in a depressed condition. Evidence of that can be found by considering the number of farmers who are yearly leaving the land.

“About 1,000 farm businesses are closing down every year. I am not saying that the additional tax on a tractor would cause a general exodus from farming.

“ I am saying that there is a principle involved – that one should resist taxing depressed industries. We should rather try to help them.

“This tax of £5 would mean the farmer having to face an increase of 100 per cent in a very short period of time; in a space of two or three years.”

While tractors were very essential to the farmers, added Mr O’Reilly, they were very seldom on the roads.

He said: “Most of the time they were running it was in the fields.”

Mr O’Reilly told Stormont that the cost of tractors was extremely high.

“There must be a very considerable amount of money going into the economy when a farmer buys a tractor,” Mr O’Reilly said.

“He will not get, one nowadays for less than £800. That will be for a small tractor, whereas it is quite possible to buy a car for £500.

“Therefore the farmer is stretched financially in the first place to buy the tractor and then he is faced with the increasing costs.

“He is faced with increased repair bills. He is faced with increased costs of oil and diesel fuel and air the other things needed to run the tractor.”

Supporting the amendment, Mr Boyd (NILP, Pottinger) said he felt it was worthy of general support in these days when they were calling upon the farming community to relieve the country “of the present burden of imports of food”.

Mr Boyd said: “To my mind the tractor on the farm is a machine or a tool for producing food and I do not think that anyone in the committee would suggest that we should tax machinery in other industries, especially in view of the demand for greater production and productivity.”

Miss Sheelagh Murnaghan (Liberal, Queen’s) said that they must remember that, on average, farms in Northern Ireland were much smaller than in the rest of the United Kingdom.

She noted: “Consequently this increase in tax is going to be much more severe here than elsewhere.”

Mr William Hinds (Unionist, Willowfield) said that farmers did not do too badly with their beef and milk.

“I am sure they can afford to pay this small extra charge,” he said.

Mr Frederick Vivian Simpson (NILP, Belfast Oldpark) joined in the plea for no change in the tractor tax.

Captain Ardill (Unionist, Carrick) said he did not think the new tax was “an undue hardship” on the farming community.

“We all agree that the farmers are an important section,” Captain Ardill said. “I for one do not want to see any imposition placed on them or anything to hinder them, but it must be remembered that there are other industries in the community playing an important part in the export drive as well as farming.

“They are being even more heavily penalised. This must be remembered.

“While I have every sympathy for the farmers, I do not think that £5 taxation for a year is a very heavy burden on any farmer; even a poor hill farmer can afford £5.”