Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 February 2026
405. Deputy John Lahart asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if his Department has undertaken any modelling on the distributional or intergenerational impacts of changes to capital acquisitions tax thresholds, particularly in the context of intergenerational fairness; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15181/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy officials examined Capital Acquisitions Tax ('CAT') as part of last year's annual Tax Strategy Group exercise. It should be noted that Tax Strategy Group is not a decision-making body and the papers produced by my Department are simply a list of options and issues to be considered in the Budgetary process. The resultant papers outlined the tax policy considerations for the Government and the options available to it in forming last year's Budget. They were published in advance of the Budget and are the best means of considering issues such as inheritance tax in an analytical and transparent way.
Last year's papers examined a number of cost modelling exercises in relation to CAT, including but not limited to:
• Uplifting the current Group B threshold to Group A
• Merging Group thresholds on a cost neutral basis
• Applying CAT on a progressive basis
As set out in the paper, CAT data is limited due to current reporting requirements and modelling provided by Revenue does not account for behavioural change which may occur. Therefore it is not possible to create models on the distributional or intergenerational impacts of changes to capital acquisitions tax thresholds, particularly in the context of intergenerational fairness.
