I came across this article on social media:
Ask an expert: My mother died and left me the family home – how can I afford the inheritance tax bill without selling it? (Irish Independent)
The comments online were eye-opening. 99% of people seemed to believe that there should be 0% "inheritance tax", "death duties", "gift tax", CAT, etc. It was the digital equivalent of foaming at the mouth over perceived theft by the government.
The person in the article will pay €84,000 so I estimate their inheritance is about €590,000. An effective tax rate of about 14%, hardly extortionate.
As others have pointed out many times on AAM, much of the money trickling down in inheritance in Ireland is from property (family home) value appreciation and maybe life insurance. This is unearned and really down to luck. Why should we be giving tax breaks for that ahead of actual work which requires effort and adds to the economy?
A couple who have never worked a day in their lives and never paid income tax can receive €670,000 from their parents tax free. That is 20 years of average take-home pay.
So, should those who lose a parent but receive no inheritance/gifts be entitled to €111,000 income tax refund (the equivalent of the CAT tax break) to balance it out?
Ask an expert: My mother died and left me the family home – how can I afford the inheritance tax bill without selling it? (Irish Independent)
The comments online were eye-opening. 99% of people seemed to believe that there should be 0% "inheritance tax", "death duties", "gift tax", CAT, etc. It was the digital equivalent of foaming at the mouth over perceived theft by the government.
The person in the article will pay €84,000 so I estimate their inheritance is about €590,000. An effective tax rate of about 14%, hardly extortionate.
As others have pointed out many times on AAM, much of the money trickling down in inheritance in Ireland is from property (family home) value appreciation and maybe life insurance. This is unearned and really down to luck. Why should we be giving tax breaks for that ahead of actual work which requires effort and adds to the economy?
A couple who have never worked a day in their lives and never paid income tax can receive €670,000 from their parents tax free. That is 20 years of average take-home pay.
So, should those who lose a parent but receive no inheritance/gifts be entitled to €111,000 income tax refund (the equivalent of the CAT tax break) to balance it out?