A means test is a way of checking if you have enough means to support yourself and what amount of payment, if any, you may qualify for. To qualify for Farm Assist, you must show that your means are below a certain level.
Your means are:
-
any income belonging to you, your spouse, civil partner or cohabitant
-
property belonging to you, your spouse, civil partner or cohabitant (except your home), and
-
any other asset(s) that could provide you with an income.
When you complete and send in the application form Farm 1, a Social Welfare Inspector will call to you at your home. They will ask you to produce supporting documents relating to your income and spending, such as accounts, mart receipts, wage-slips and bank statements.
Means from farm income or other self-employment
Your income from farming and other self-employment is assessed as gross income that you, your spouse, civil partner or cohabitant may reasonably be expected to receive, minus any expenses you incur to earn that income.
-
If you have qualified children (see
Part 4), we disregard the first €254 of your net income for each of your first 2 children and €381 for each other child.
-
We then assess you on 70% of your remaining income from farming and self-employment.
-
We divide this figure by 52 to get the weekly means. The difference between the weekly means and the appropriate weekly amount of social welfare payment is the amount of Farm Assist payable.
Example
You are a farmer with a qualified adult ( see Part 4) and 3 qualified children. You have 60 acres of land and you are involved in mixed farming.
Means Assessment Example
|
Income
|
Expenses
|
|
Sale of Cattle
|
€9,900
|
Livestock
|
€2,900
|
|
Sale of Lambs
|
€3,600
|
Fertiliser
|
€2,500
|
|
Grants and Subsidies
|
€6,111
|
Vet
|
€750
|
|
Gross income
|
€19,611
|
Electricity
|
€500
|
|
|
|
Repairs
|
€3,900
|
|
|
|
Labour
|
€2,800
|
|
|
|
Interest
|
€1,500
|
|
|
|
Gross expenses
|
€14,850
|
|
|
|
Gross income
|
€19,611
|
|
|
|
Minus expenses
|
€14,850
|
|
|
|
Net profit
|
€4,761
|
|
Minus disregard income (see above)
|
|
|
|
|
€254 for each of first 2 children
|
= €508
|
|
|
|
€381 for 3rd child
|
= €381
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
|
- €889
|
|
|
|
|
€3,872
|
|
|
|
Assessable income
|
= 70% of €3,872
|
|
|
|
|
= €2,710.40 a year
|
|
|
|
€2,710.40 divided by 52
|
= €52.12 a week
|
|
|
|
Means rounded to
|
= €52.00 a week
|
In this example, the amount of Farm Assist you may get is €350.20.
Appropriate Amount
|
Appropriate amount of social welfare payment since Jan. 2011
|
|
€402.20
|
|
Minus Means
|
|
€52.00
|
|
Farm Assist
|
=
|
€350.20
|
Means from REPS and SACS
We assess income from the Rural Environment Protection Scheme (REPS), Special Areas of Conservation Scheme (SACS) and Agri-Environment Options Scheme (AEOS) separately from other farm income, using the formula below.
Formula
- Income from REPS, SACS or AEOS:
- Minus first €2,540
- Divide answer by 2
- Minus expenses
|
Yearly value of means
|
|
|
Weekly value of means
|
Means from insurable employment
We assess your net income (gross income less PRSI, the pension levy, union dues and superannuation) as follows.
Seasonal work
If you have seasonal employment, we assess you on your earnings only during the period that you are actually working.
How we assess investments and savings
We do not take the actual income from investments and savings as your means. Instead we add together the following items and use a formula to work out your means:
-
cash value of investments and property (except your home),
-
money in savings accounts, and
- cash-in-hand or in a current account.
Formula
|
Capital:
|
Weekly means assessed:
|
|
First €20,000
|
Nil
|
|
€20,000 - €30,000
|
€1 per €1,000
|
|
€30,000 - €40,000
|
€2 per €1,000
|
|
Over €40,000
|
€4 per €1,000
|
What if my spouse, civil partner or cohabitant works?
Income from insurable employment
We assess your spouse’s, civil partner’s or cohabitant’s income from insurable employment in the same way as your own income from insurable employment.
Income from self-employment
We assess your spouse’s, civil partner’s or cohabitant’s income from farming or other self-employment in the same way as your own income from self-employment.
Other income
We assess other income at its cash value - for example €1 for every €1 of income.