The Westminster government's decision to scrap rules allowing holiday accommodation owners to claim certain tax benefits was strongly criticised when a Farmers' Union of Wales delegation from Caernarfonshire met their local MP and the Welsh rural affairs minister.
MP Hywel Williams and the Assembly minister Elin Jones discussed various issues with the delegation during a visit to the Betws Garmon farm of Dewi and Bethan Roberts to see how a young farming couple with three daughters had invested heavily to create holiday accommodation sleeping nine at the farmhouse and a further seven in a nearby workshop.
Benefiting from Wales Tourist Board funding, they also installed a hot tub to offer visitors something different to the usual holiday accommodation.
But their decision to complete the work this year - in a bid to secure exemption from the Chancellor's decision to repeal the Furnished Holiday Lettings (FHL) rules - has resulted in cashflow consequences.
The FUW delegation included the county's representative on the union's farm diversification committee, farmer's wife Anwen Jones, who lets out four holiday cottages at Bettws Bach farm, Rhoslan, near Criccieth, and has already raised the issue with Meirionnydd Nant Conwy MP Elfyn Llwyd.
"We again explained to Mr Williams and the minister how the scrapping of these taxation benefits will seriously affect the income of many FUW members who have diversified into letting out holiday accommodation," said the union's Caernarfonshire county executive officer Gwynedd Watkin.
"We repeated our previous demands on the Chancellor to change his decision, announced in last April's Budget, to scrap the rules which allow losses from FHLs to be offset against other income."
Mr Watkin said the delegation also demanded a curb on harsh cross-compliance penalties recently handed out to farmers which were often disproportionate to the "crime" - especially when a genuine mistake, with no financial gain, had occurred.
"We presented the minister and Mr Williams with a number of cases where farmers had been 'fined', ranging from £1,500 for a basic administrative error to over £90,000 for a planning issue involving 'possible' damage to an ancient monument.
"In the latter case, if the farmer had not been claiming subsidies, the maximum he could be fined by a court is £40,000. It is not right for farmers to be disproportionately penalised so heavily."
The delegation also discussed issues concerning the forthcoming Glastir all-Wales agri-environmental scheme. "Many frustrations were vented with regard to the lack of detailed information about the qualifying criteria and the minister assured us that more information will be forthcoming in the future," Mr Watkin added.