BUDGET 2027 brings increased racing funding, changes to farm succession and support for environmental investment, but offers limited reassurance on the rising costs facing horse farms.

For breeders and equine farmers, its practical value will depend on eligibility for agricultural schemes and tax reliefs. Maintaining existing funding also offers less protection when inflation continues to erode its purchasing power.

As The Irish Field reported last week, The Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund increases to €102 million, with horse racing receiving €81.6 million, up from €79.3 million in 2026. Horse Racing Ireland will determine spending priorities through its budgeting process.

For sport horse breeders, the position remains less clear. Annual support will continue, but the Department of Agriculture has not confirmed the allocation. Contracts for national breeding and marketing services expire in December, with their replacements subject to procurement.

A further €8.4 million is allocated to animal health and welfare policies, including horse and greyhound welfare measures. This is a shared allocation, rather than funding exclusively for equines.

Environmental benefit

TAMS receives €93.35 million, making it an important consideration for qualifying equine holdings planning eligible improvements.

Speaking on The Irish Farmers Journal’s Budget podcast, Agriculture Minister Martin Heydon highlighted investment in modern equipment, labour efficiency and safety: “There’s an environmental benefit to that as well.”

However, horse farmers should check eligibility before budgeting for grant assistance. The allocation does not mean every yard or proposed investment qualifies.

For those pursuing nature-friendly management, an additional €21.6 million for water quality and biodiversity European Innovation Partnerships is particularly relevant. ACRES retains €280 million, maintaining its 2026 allocation.

Heydon also indicated that a further Farming for Water application round would open next year. Such projects could be relevant to eligible holdings seeking to protect waterways and improve environmental management on their equine farms.

Renewable energy remains another opportunity, although IFA president Francie Gorman called for greater battery support: “There’s not much point in generating the energy if we can’t use it.”

Fuel-income supports are extended for August to December 2026 through an additional €31.2 million package. Although announced in Budget 2027, this addresses current-year costs. Equine enterprises must meet the scheme’s farming and fuel-use conditions. Equine farmers should check eligibility: the published scheme generally requires active-farmer status, valid BISS applications for 2025 and 2026, and green diesel used for qualifying agricultural production.

Accelerated allowances

Staffing costs will rise as the national minimum wage reaches €14.94 an hour. The employers’ PRSI weekly earnings threshold increases from €552 to €600.

For qualifying family breeding farms, the Succession Farm Partnership Tax Credit doubles to €10,000 annually for five years. Partnerships registered from January 2027 will also benefit from removal of the three-year waiting period before transfer.

The parent-to-child inheritance and gift-tax threshold rises to €420,000. Agricultural Relief remains unchanged, while Capital Gains Tax falls to 31% for disposals excluding development land.

The flat-rate farmer VAT addition increases from 4.5% to 4.8%. Accelerated allowances for eligible farm safety equipment continue until December 2029, with 12 additional items included.

These changes offer useful opportunities, but the wider verdict remains cautious. Gorman expressed disappointment at a largely static agriculture budget when overall Government spending increased by 6%.

For horse farmers, the immediate task is to identify which provisions apply to their business, particularly before committing to capital expenditure or succession arrangements.

The Budget supports continuity and selected investment. Whether that is enough to offset higher wages, fuel bills and other inputs will depend on each farm’s circumstances.

THE recent announcement of the new Irish Investment Account (IIA) by Minister Simon Harris in the recent budget is to be largely welcomed. The roll out had been flagged in media circles over the last few months, so it came as no surprise. What might have come as a surprise is the maximum amount of €12,000 per annum that can be paid in on an annual basis to these accounts by an Irish resident over 18.

In the UK, their ISA which has a similar investment account allows £20,000 per annum. It has proved most popular in the UK.

The tax-free threshold of €50,000 is to be welcomed and would encourage an average Irish saver to allocate some cash to this new investment account. A flat rate of tax at 1% will apply to any excess over €50,000 in these accounts.

For existing savers, who may have invested regularly over the long term for certain financial goals through funds/life policies (non-pension), the only change in the budget was the reduction in exit tax from 38% to 35% from Jan 1st, 2027 next. They are still exposed to the deemed disposal exit tax rules on every eight anniversaries of their plan or earlier encashment unlike the IIAs. Surely the Minister needs to abolish this crazy deemed disposal rule and reduce the exit tax to 31% on these current investment plans? This would coincide with his recent budget announcement with respect to Capital Gains Tax being reduced from 33% to 31% from Oct 7th last! The gap has narrowed to four points. Hopefully, the winning post for existing investors will come sooner rather than later!

OVERALL, the Budget 2027 delivers some incremental, but not transformative, supports relevant to the equine sector. 

The increase in the flat-rate farmer VAT addition to 4.8% improves compensation for non-VAT-registered equine farms, while the extension of accelerated capital allowances for farm-safety equipment helps yards investing in infrastructure, handling facilities, and compliance upgrades.

The reduced VAT rate on key veterinary medicines offers some relief in a sector with high animal-health costs.

Succession planning also received a little boost: the Succession Farm Partnership Tax Credit doubles to €10,000, and higher CAT thresholds plus a lower 31% CGT rate strengthens the tax environment for generational transfer of equine enterprises.