Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 May 2026
165. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if he will consider increasing the small gift exemption for capital acquisitions tax from €3,000 to €5,000 from each person per year given it has not been increased for a long number of years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39421/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraCapital Acquisitions Tax (CAT) is a tax on gifts and inheritances that is payable by the beneficiary of the gift or inheritance on the value of the property received.
The relationship between the person giving a gift or inheritance and the beneficiary determines the maximum amount, known as the “Group threshold”, below which CAT does not arise.
Any prior gift or inheritance received by a beneficiary since 5 December 1991 from within the same Group threshold is aggregated for the purposes of determining whether tax is payable on a benefit.
Where a person receives a gift or inheritance and the value of the property received exceeds the relevant Group threshold, CAT at a rate of 33% applies on the excess.
There are three Group thresholds:
• the Group A threshold (currently €400,000) applies where the beneficiary is a child of the person giving the gift or inheritance;
• the Group B threshold (currently €40,000) applies where the beneficiary is a brother, sister, nephew, niece, lineal ancestor or lineal descendant of the person giving the gift or inheritance;
• the Group C threshold (currently €20,000) applies in all other cases.
In addition to the above, a person may receive gifts up to the value of €3,000 from any person in any calendar year without having to pay CAT. This is generally referred to as the small gifts exemption.
Gifts within this limit are not taken into account in computing tax and are not included for future aggregation purposes.
The effect of this is that a person can take a gift from several people in the same calendar year and the first €3,000 from each person is exempt from CAT. In addition, where the value of a gift from a person exceeds €3,000, only the excess is taken into account for calculating CAT.
The gift exemption applies only to gifts and not to inheritances.
The options available for increasing the CAT small gift exemption must be balanced against competing demands, but will be considered as part of the annual Budget and Finance Bill process. As the Deputy will be aware, it is a longstanding practice of the Minister for Finance not to comment, in advance of the Budget, on any tax matters that might be the subject of Budget decisions.
