A Department of Finance consultation is underway on possible tax incentives to encourage the sale of certain land to developers to build residential properties and thereby ease the housing shortage.

The Minister for Finance in his Budget speech made reference to the existence of a view that certain land owners are waiting for higher prices before taking steps to develop their land or sell it to others who will. The Department of Finance launched a public consultation on the potential of taxation measures to encourage the development of zoned and serviced land.

The consultation will run for 12 weeks until 8 May 2015 and further details are available in the consultation document on the Department of Finance website. Chartered Accountants Ireland as a member of CCAB-I will be responding to this consultation.