Written answers
Tuesday, 1 April 2025
Department of Finance
Tax Reliefs
Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
338. To ask the Minister for Finance to provide a complete listing of buildings approved that are availing of the section 482 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997; the frequency with which this list is updated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15716/25]
Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
339. To ask the Minister for Finance whether a property, that has once availed of the section 482 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 for historical buildings (details supplied), has to reapply if their name is no longer listed on the current list; the process for doing so; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15717/25]
Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
I propose to take Questions Nos. 338 and 339 together.
Section 482 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 was introduced for the purpose of assisting the preservation of our built heritage, by giving tax relief to the owners or occupiers of significant buildings or gardens on the expenditure incurred by them on the repair, maintenance and restoration of those properties.
This scheme applies to an approved building, an approved garden existing independently, or an approved object contained within the house or garden, to which reasonable access is afforded to the public or where the building is a guest house approved by Fáilte Ireland.
A building or garden must receive a determination from the Minster for Housing, Local Government and Heritage that it is a building or garden which is intrinsically of significant horticultural, scientific, historical, architectural or aesthetic interest, before it can qualify for tax relief. In addition, to qualify, a determination must have been issued by Revenue that reasonable access to the building or garden is afforded to the public.
Revenue publishes a list of properties that have received determinations under section 482 in the first quarter of each year. This list is available on the Revenue website at: www.revenue.ie/en/personal-tax-credits-reliefs-and-exemptions/documents/section-482-heritage-properties.pdf.
Revenue issues an annual registration form at the end of each year in respect of every property appearing on the published list, to establish whether the conditions required for reasonable access continue to be met.
Guidance on how to make applications in respect of section 482 relief to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and Revenue, including in relation to a property that is not currently on the published list, is available on the Revenue website at: www.revenue.ie/en/tax-professionals/tdm-wm/income-tax-capital-gains-tax-corporation-tax/part-15/15-02-01.pdf.
John Clendennen (Offaly, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
340. To ask the Minister for Finance his views on the operation of retirement relief, an agri-taxation measure, to promote the transfer of agri-business and farms to the next generation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15798/25]
Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
Relief from Capital Gains Tax (´CGT´) is available under sections 598 and 599 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (´TCA 1997´) to individuals aged 55 years or more on the disposal of qualifying business assets. The relief is commonly referred to as retirement relief, although it is not necessary for the individual to retire to qualify for the relief. Section 599 TCA 1997 provides for retirement relief on a disposal of qualifying business assets by an individual to a child, as defined for the purpose of that provision; section 598 TCA 1997 provides for retirement relief where such assets are disposed of to third parties. As qualifying assets may include those in use in farm trades, retirement relief may be availed of under section 599 TCA 1997 by an individual, aged 55 or more, in respect of the intergenerational transfer of a farm trade – the measure of relief available depends on the date of the transfer, the individual’s age at the date of the transfer and the aggregated value of the assets transferred.
As noted above, section 599 TCA 1997 provides for relief from CGT on the disposal of qualifying business assets to a child, as defined in this section, of the individual or of that individual’s civil partner.
The meaning of “child” for the purposes of this relief includes:
- the child of the civil partner of the individual,
- a child of a deceased child,
- a nephew or niece who has worked substantially on a full-time basis in the trade concerned for the period of five years ending with the disposal in question, and
- a foster child, where that child satisfies the conditions in terms of the residence, care and maintenance of that child for 5 years before the child attains the age of 18.
The relief also applies to the transfer by an individual of shares in a farm company that is the individual’s family company. A family company is a company in which the individual holds at least 25 per cent of the voting rights or, in a case where the individual and his/her family hold at least 75 per cent of the voting rights, the individual holds not less than 10 per cent of those rights. In addition, the individual must have been a working director of the company for a period of not less than 10 years during which they have been a full-time working director for not less than 5 years.
For disposals to a child made on or after 1 January 2025, a lifetime limit of €10 million generally applies to the market value of the qualifying assets to which relief under this section applies. However, a €3 million cap applies to disposals of qualifying assets by individuals aged 70 years and over.
Should the child to whom qualifying assets, the aggregated value of which does not exceed €10 million, are transferred dispose of those assets within 6 years of the transfer, the child becomes liable for the CGT relieved on the initial transfer, in addition to the CGT liability which may accrue to the child in respect of their disposal of the assets.
The CGT liability which arises to an individual on the transfer of qualifying assets to a child on or after 1 January 2025, the value of which exceeds the €10 million lifetime limit, may be deferred by the individual making the transfer. In circumstances where an individual has chosen to defer the CGT liability, the relevant qualifying assets are subject to a 12-year retention period. Where the child disposes of such assets within 12 years of the date of transfer, the deferred CGT, which would have been charged on the individual, is assessed and charged on the child, in addition to the tax on any gain made by the child on his/her disposal of the assets.
No comments