It is estimated that the probate tax will yield £3 million in 1993, and £11 million in a full year.
The amount of tax that would be foregone if surviving spouses were fully exempted from probate tax is estimated at £3 million a year. The estimated costs in revenue foregone of raising the exemption threshold to £50,000, £75,000 and £100,000 are £4 million a year, £6 million a year and £8 million a year respectively. The cost of extending the agricultural relief that applies under the capital acquisitions tax code to probate tax is estimated at £2 million a year.
I understand from the Probate Office that the number or estates that entered probabe in the year 1991-1992 was 9,820, while the number of estates on which administration was taken out was 4,437. The respective figures for 1990-1991 are 9,838. Based on a one month sample of grants of probate and administration issued in both Dublin and rural areas, the Revenue Commissioners estimate that approximately 23 per cent of estates are valued below £10,000, that 40 per cent of estates are valued below £20,000, that 71 per cent of estates are valued below £50,000 and that 90 per cent of estates are valued below £100,000.
