Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 236: To ask the Minister for Finance if he will provide details of the number of claims for relief made in each year from 2000 to 2005 inclusive under section 86 of the Consolidated Capital Acquisitions Act 2003; the value of the properties transferred; the values of the ten largest houses covered by the relief in each of the above years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23364/06]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Section 86 of the Capital Acquisition Tax (CAT) Consolidation Act 2003, which provides an exemption from CAT in relation to certain dwellings, came into effect for gifts or inheritances taken on or after 1 December 1999. I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the relevant information available is of the number of claims for this relief which were made in each of the years 2000 to 2005 inclusive. The numbers of such claims were 3 in 2000, 24 in 2001, 13 in 2002, 252 in 2003, 553 in 2004 and 542 in 2005. Data on the values of properties is not captured in the Revenue database by reference to section 86 claims and the information on property values sought by the Deputy, including the values of the ten largest houses, is not accordingly to hand.

The relief under Section 86 was introduced by my predecessor in order to reduce the tax burden faced by individuals on receipt of the family home, by gift or inheritance, irrespective of the circumstances of the family relationship. The relief was introduced at the time in response to growing concern on the part of home owners as to the tax consequence of transferring their family home. In the light of the increasing value of family properties and the variety of family relationships in existence it was decided not to restrict the relief by property value or relationship, but to extend the relief to shared-home situations.

However, in order to restrict the relief to genuine cases and avoid the relief being used as a means of tax avoidance, a lengthy owner-occupancy condition was included in the legislation. In order to qualify for the relief the beneficiary (i.e. the person who receives the gift/inheritance) must have occupied the dwelling house as his or her only or main residence for a period of at least three years prior to the gift or inheritance and must continue to own and reside in it for a period of six years after the date of the gift or inheritance. These conditions of ownership and residence upon inheritance may be waived where the beneficiary requires long-term medical care in a hospital, nursing home or convalescent home. In addition, in order to avail of the relief, the beneficiary must not have an interest in any other property at the time of inheritance. I am confident that these conditions ensure that only genuine cases qualify for the relief.