Agritourism

We have made it easier for farmers to use their land for agritourism to complement their existing agricultural businesses.

This includes farm experiences, cellar doors, cafés, retreats, roadside stalls, fruit picking, hosting small weddings and other activities.

Planning reforms were introduced in December 2022 and have now been expanded to more areas across the state.

The agritourism planning rules:

• help landowners add value to their existing agricultural operations and encourage the next generation to farm the land
• help make farms more resilient to the economic impacts of natural disasters and other unexpected events
• support sustainable tourism, giving people more reasons to visit regional and rural NSW.

Agritourism businesses already lawfully operating are not affected by the reforms.

In NSW, land is generally exempt from land tax provided the dominant use of the land is for primary production. In many cases, agritourism activities are not treated as primary production. Depending on the scale and intensity of competing activities and uses on the land, the requirements to qualify for the exemption may be impacted.

If you are commencing or conducting activities other than primary production on your land, you should lodge a land tax return to declare this. Visit Revenue NSW for more information about land tax exemption for primary production land.

For more information about how agritourism impacts land tax exemption, contact the land tax team at Revenue NSW.