Thursday 18 July 2019

Dublin pays 52pc of inheritance tax as the State collects €466m

(Stock picture)
(Stock picture)
Charlie Weston

Charlie Weston

More than half of all inheritance tax is paid in Dublin. The next largest amount is paid in Cork city and county.

But with only 8pc of the tax paid in the Rebel County, it has emerged inheritance tax is largely being paid by those in the capital.

Revenue figures show €466m in inheritance taxes were collected across the State last year, up by almost 50pc since the peak of the boom in 2007.

The overall amount collected has been rising since 2010, largely reflecting the rises property prices.

Some 15,000 people paid the tax last year.

But a big chunk of the tax is being paid in Dublin.

A regional breakdown shows that 52pc of inheritance tax was paid in the capital in 2017, the latest year for which there is a breakdown.

The proportion of the tax paid by people who live in the capital has remained roughly consistent over the last few years.

Inheritance tax paid by Dublin residents amounted to €223m of the total paid that year.

The next biggest contribution was made by taxpayers in Co Cork at €35m, just one-sixth of what was paid in the capital.

After Cork, Wicklow residents were the third largest payers of the tax, reflecting high property values in the country.

Some €16m was paid by Wicklow people, half of that collected from Cork and 14 times less than was collected in Dublin.

Donegal was the county with the lowest yield in 2017, with less than €5m paid.

Most of the tax is paid by those who fall into what the tax officials call Category B.

This refers to inheritances from grandparents, brothers or sisters, or aunts and uncles.

The tax free threshold from this category is just €32,500.

Non-relatives accounted for just 15pc of all inheritance tax yields.

A third of the tax was paid by children, who have a tax free threshold of €320,000.

This was increased in last year's Budget by €10,000, but the amount a child can inherit before paying tax was as high as €542,544 in 2009.

Back then the tax was levied at 20pc. Inheritance tax is now levied at 33pc.

Children, classed as Category A, paid €160m of the tax last year.

Across all the counties the average amount of inheritance tax paid amounts to just short of €31,000.

A recent survey found that many families are unaware that they may face a tax bill when they inherit homes and other assets.

Irish Independent

Also in Business