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5.10.2 Eligibility Criteria for Participation in RASF
Eligibility for qualifying sugarcane farmers
VEA ?
The criteria for transfer of a sugarcane farm or farms under the scheme that allows the sugarcane farm property to be disregarded under the disposal of assets rules are as follows:
- the sugarcane farm(s) must be transferred as a gift to an eligible descendant or eligible descendants within a specified timeframe, More ?
- the person who transfers the sugarcane farm(s) must be a qualifying sugarcane farmer at the time of transfer, More ?
- the transfer of the property must take place on or after 13 July 2004 and before 13 July 2007 or within a specified time frame allowed in certain limited circumstances, More ?
- the person or the person's partner is at retirement age on or before 12 July 2007,
- the total value of the sugarcane farm(s) transferred, together with relevant sugarcane farm assets, does not exceed $500,000, More ?
- during the last three years before the transfer is completed, the eligible descendant or descendants to whom the sugarcane farm(s) is transferred has had active involvement with a sugarcane farm, More ?
- if the person is a member of a couple, the person's partner does not have a legal estate or interest in the sugarcane farm or sugarcane farms, or a legal interest in any relevant sugarcane farm assets, and
- the person satisfies the sugarcane farmers' income test for each of the last three financial years prior to transfer of the property. More ?
Eligibility for widow/widower or former partner of a qualifying sugarcane farmer
VEA ?
Where an eligible widow/widower or former partner of a qualifying sugarcane farmer has an interest in the farm, that person may also benefit from RASF, even though they themselves may not meet the definition of a qualifying sugarcane farmer. Such a person is still required to meet further eligibility requirements for RASF. In most cases, a widow or widower would meet the definition of a qualifying sugarcane farmer because ownership of the farm was transferred to them upon the death of their partner.
More ?
Eligibility for qualifying sugarcane farmers
Section 49Q VEA
Eligibility for widow/widower or former partner
Section 49Q(2) VEA
According to subsection 5PAA(1) of the VEA, a sugarcane farm is a farm that is used predominantly for the purposes of a sugarcane farm enterprise .
Disposal of assets is generally referred to as deprivation. Deprivation occurs where a person disposes of an asset and/or income for less than the value of the asset and/or income.
According to subsection 5P(1) of the VEA, an eligible descendant in relation to a person means:
- a child, step child or adopted child of the person or of a partner of the person, or
- a descendant in direct line of a child described above, or
- any other person who, in the opinion of the [glossary:Commission:DEF/Commission/Repatriation Commission], should be treated for the purposes of this definition as a person described in the above paragraph.
Qualifying sugarcane farmer – 15 years continuous involvement
Qualifying sugarcane farmer – 20 years involvement
A person is considered to be a qualifying sugarcane farmer if they have:
- held an eligible interest in the farm for a continuous period of 15 years and the farm has for the last two years and since 29 April 2004 been a sugarcane farm, or
- acquired an eligible interest in the sugarcane farm before 29 April 2004 and had an active involvement in the farm or the farming industry in Australia for any period or periods totalling at least 20 years.
During either period the person or their partner must have derived a significant part of their income and contributed a significant part of their labour to the development of a sugarcane farm for at least the last two years.
Refer to subsections 5PAA(3) and 5PAA(4) for the full definition.
Retirement age for a person who is a war widow/widower means the pension age that would apply to that person if he or she was a veteran.
For any other person, retirement age is the pension age for that person.
Refer to subsection 5Q(1) of the VEA for the full definition.
According to subsection 5PAA(1) of the VEA, relevant sugarcane farm assets in relation to a sugarcane farm, means any relevant farm asset or assets that are a produce of, or are used for the purposes of, a sugarcane farm enterprise.
According to subsection 5PAA(2) of the VEA, a person is an eligible former partner of a qualifying sugarcane farmer if:
- the person was, but no longer is (whether because of death or any other reason), the partner of another person, and
- on the day on which the person ceased to be the partner of the other person, the other person was a qualifying sugarcane farmer, and
- after ceasing to be the partner of the other person, the person has not again become a member of a couple, and
the person has an eligible interest in a sugarcane farm or sugarcane farms in which the other person had an eligible interest.