The Finance Bill 2014 was published on 21 October 2014 and introduced three changes to CAT, gift and inheritance tax, namely
- amendments to the definition of farmer for agricultural relief purposes,
- amendments to the exemption for gifts and inheritances to a child that are part of the normal expediture of a parent; and
- the extension of the definition of charities to cover non Irish charities for discretionary levy purposes, albeit with an anti avoidance provision in place in respect of the exemption from levies for charities.
This firm has made submissions in relation to the changes proposed, direct to Revenue and via the Law Society and the Irish Tax Institute, dealing with the concerns around practical implementation of the definition of farmer for Agricultural Property Relief and the controversy around the proposal to tax children over the age of 25 for benefits taken over €3,000 where free use provisions are applied.
This firm is concerned that in relation to the benefits for children, the reassurance given in a recent press release as to the non application of the change to certain circumstances does not make sense as the legislation does require free use of assets and services to be charged unless exempt. Why put the restriction to the exemption in place and then take it away in practice? Why are dependant children under 18 and those under 25 in full time education able to be provided for but not dependant children in part time education or with a permenant disability? Why is Revenue indicating this is necessary to prevent an abuse where the proposal does not actually address the abuse and where the abuse is already able to be resisted by Revenue by saying excessive expenditure is not normal expenditure? See press articles on this and the Department's press release.
