Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 December 2014
81. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance if his Department has made an estimate of the tax expenditure associated with the two year capital gains tax exemption on property investment which will expire on 31 December 2014 in view of the increases in commercial and residential property prices over the past 18 months; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47691/14]
View answerThe capital gains tax relief introduced by Section 604A of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (enacted in Finance Act 2012 and extended by Finance (No 2) Act 2013) with effect from 7 December 2011 to 31 December 2014 will have no cost, in terms of capital gains tax forgone, for a period of seven years from the time any properties to which the relief applies were acquired. Any such properties sold within seven years of being acquired will not qualify for the relief.
Disposals made after the seven year period of ownership will be subject to capital gains tax on any gain but effectively at a reduced rate by reference to the fraction that 7 years bears to the overall period of ownership. It is not possible at this time to estimate when such properties will be disposed of in the future or the amount of chargeable capital gain, if any, that may arise on such disposals. Accordingly, it is not possible to estimate what the cost will be in the future in terms of capital gains tax forgone.
