The State's top earning farmers paid an average of £2,413 in tax last year, a public accounts committee heard yesterday.
Fewer than 30,000 farmers paid £70 million in tax in 1995, £3.5 million more than the year before. The figures refer to full time farmers and do not include PAYE tax on income earned by farmers or their spouses.
The latest figures available for PAYE tax paid by farmers for work done outside the farm, or by their spouses, show that £56 million was paid by just over 18,000 people.