Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 30 Jan 2002

Vol. 547 No. 1

Written Answers. - Capital Acquisitions Tax.

Noel Ahern

Ceist:

455 Mr. N. Ahern asked the Minister for Finance the CAT thresholds for 2002; if alterations have been made in such cases where a house will be left to a sibling who was never previously a house owner; if allowance will be made where the recipient was not able to pay the CAT; and if CAT charges are listed for the finance Bill. [2889/02]

Minister for Finance (Mr. McCreevy)

I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the tax free thresholds for capital acquisitions tax for 2002 are as follows:

Group A	422,148
Group B	42,215
Group C	21,108

The thresholds are indexed by reference to the Consumer Price Index.

In the Finance Act, 2000, I introduced an exemption from tax in the case of a gift or inheritance of a dwelling house where it has been the only or main residence of the recipient for a period of three years. In addition, the recipient must not have an interest in any other dwelling house and must continue to reside in the property for a period of six years after the date of the gift or inheritance. Provided the recipient fulfils the qualifying conditions, his or her relationship to the donor is irrelevant. He or she may be a sibling or a stranger and previous home ownership is not relevant. There is no requirement that the donor must have resided in the property.

As regards recipients who are unable to pay CAT, I am advised that the Revenue Commissioners have power in cases of excessive hardship to postpone payment of tax on such terms as they think fit, including waiver of interest. As part of the terms, in certain circumstances Revenue may, with the agreement of the recipient, seek to register a charge against the property in question. As the Deputy will appreciate, I cannot comment on what will or will not be in the Finance Bill prior to its publication as only some of the items involved were included in the preliminary list of measures for the Bill, which was published on 18 January 2002.

Question No. 456 answered with Question No. 438.