Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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51. To ask the Minister for Finance the legislative changes in place, or proposed, that will change the treatment for capital gains tax for joint tenants as opposed to tenants in common; the nature of this change; and if there is when this change will take place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51294/13]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Where property is owned under a joint tenancy each joint-tenant has an equal undivided share in the property, which passes automatically on the death of one joint-tenant to the surviving joint- tenant(s). Where property is owned under a tenancy-in-common, each tenant-in-common owns a proportionate share in the property. On the death of a tenant-in-common, his or her share in the property does not pass automatically to any other tenant-in-common but rather forms part of the deceased's estate.

Capital gains tax legislation contains no specific provisions in relation to tenants-in-common or joint-tenants. The legislation follows the general law in relation to the ownership of property and applies capital gains tax, where a chargeable gain arises on a disposal, on each tenant-in-common or joint-tenant according to the share of each one in the property.

A joint-tenancy can be severed and replaced by an arrangement in which the former joint-tenants become tenants-in-common. Where a number of properties are held under tenancies-in-common, these can be partitioned and replaced by an arrangement in which each of the former tenants-in-common becomes the full owner of some of the properties. Each of the parties concerned in such arrangements is disposing of a lesser interest in part of the properties concerned and is acquiring a full interest in a number of the properties. The normal capital gains tax rules in relation to part-disposals apply in this situation.

Where the owner of property transfers it to joint-tenants there is a disposal of the whole property to the joint tenants collectively even where the original owner becomes a joint-tenant following the transfer. Any chargeable gain arising on such transfer is subject to capital gains tax in the normal way.

The treatment applied to the disponer of, or of an interest in, property is the same whether a tenant-in-common or a joint-tenant. Whatever interest is disposed of is subject to capital gains tax, if a chargeable gain arises on the disposal, and there are no proposals to change this.