Horticulture Irrigation Pricing Rebate Scheme
The Horticulture Irrigation Pricing Rebate Scheme provides rebates of 35 percent to horticulture producers to offset the cost of water used to irrigate horticultural crops.
The Queensland Government has allocated $81.6 million over the three years 2021-22 to 2023-24 to provide financial support to irrigators, including funding for the Horticulture Irrigation Pricing Rebate Scheme.
A 15 per cent discount has been applied to calculate prices for all irrigation customers supplied by Sunwater and Seqwater, with a further discount of 35 per cent to be made available for horticultural growers through the Horticulture Irrigation Pricing Rebate Scheme.
Rebates are available to customers who have been issued tax invoices (irrigation invoices) by Sunwater, Seqwater or Pioneer Valley Water Co-operative Limited in which some, or all of the prices have been calculated to include a discount of 15 per cent.
The rebate is available in relation to irrigation water charges for the three-year period 2021‑22, 2022-23 and 2023-24.
For more information about how rebates will be calculated see guidelines and Supplementary Information.
Frequently asked questions
No, QRIDA will calculate the rebate amount from the information you provide.
You may view the formulas used by QRIDA in calculating rebates in the Supplementary Information about the scheme.
Questions concerning your personal taxation circumstances should be directed to your taxation advisor or the Australian Taxation Office on 13 72 86.
You do not need to submit separate applications if your allocations are held under the same customer number.
The application form will ask you to nominate how much of the water usage shown on your irrigation invoice is applicable to horticulture. You will need to provide information to support the amount you have nominated.
If you are unable to provide information that demonstrates water usage applicable to horticulture you will be required to provide details of the land areas under horticulture and non-horticulture production. QRIDA will use this information to calculate your rebate amount using relevant Australian Bureau of Statistics irrigation water application rates.
Please refer to the question on information to be provided with a rebate application for examples of information and evidence that may be provided to support your application.
Yes, you should provide supporting information to assist in confirming all water allocations and any usage shown on your irrigation invoice were used to irrigate horticultural crops.
Please refer to the question on information to be provided with a rebate application below for examples of information and evidence that may be provided to support your application.
Yes. You will need to provide evidence to demonstrate that you usually grow horticulture if announced allocations are sufficient to do so.
The rebate applies to the following charges:
- allocation charges (Part A and Part C),
- usage charges (Part B and Part D), and
- access charges.
Applications for rebates can be made online through the QRIDA portal.
Irrigators who do not have internet access should contact QRIDA.
On approval of an application, QRIDA will deposit funding into the bank account nominated in your application.
Detailed information on how QRIDA will calculate rebate amounts is included in supplementary Information about the Horticulture Irrigation Rebate Pricing Scheme.
If it has not been possible to grow horticultural crops because your water allocation has been temporarily traded you would not be eligible for a rebate on your water allocation charges.
However, if you retained some allocation and grew horticultural crops you would be eligible for a rebate on both the water allocation charges retained and any water usage charges associated with horticulture production.
At least two types of information must be provided to support a rebate claim. This information may include items such as:
- profit and loss, or management accounts showing the income received from the sale of horticultural crops
- sale dockets relating to the sale of horticultural crops
- your federal government Horticulture Levy statement obtainable from Levies Online
- farm plan/map outlining the area under production of horticultural crops
- on the ground photographic evidence (e.g. with mobile phone) showing the production and/or processing of horticultural crops
- any additional evidence on how your metered water take has been used.
No. If you cannot demonstrate the amount of water used specifically for horticultural crops you will be asked questions about the land areas under horticultural and non-horticultural crops. QRIDA will use this information and relevant Australian Bureau of Statistics irrigation water application rates to calculate your rebate. More information on the formula to make this calculation is available in the supplementary information.
As a Pioneer Valley Water customer, you are not issued an invoice directly by Sunwater. However, Pioneer Valley Water bills include charges from Sunwater which will be eligible for the rebate.
The Sunwater prices for the Pioneer Valley scheme can be found here.
No, you will only need to have made a payment in full for the invoice relevant to your application.
In submitting subsequent applications for rebates, you will only be required to provide additional information relevant to their current claim.
Yes. The application in the QRIDA portal will guide you on how to do this.
Following your initial application and rebate payment, you will need to submit subsequent applications for rebates at an interval of your choosing, either quarterly, half-yearly or yearly.
