Firstly, Inheritance Tax only comes into play on an inhertiance, i.e. the donor is deceased. If the donor is alive then it is Gift Tax we are dealing with. Both of these taxes come under the heading of Capital Acquisitions Tax. (CAT)
Assuming that the donor ( in this case the parent(s) ) is/are still alive then there are 2 taxes to be considered :-
a) - Possible CAT on the recipient on the gift to them
b) - Possible Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on the donor.
a) is only relevant if the recipient has already exhausted their CAT exempt amount from parents ( Class A ) which is presently €521,208.
b) may be charged on the parent on a disposal ( even if no money changes hands)
A valuable relief to counter CGT is contained in Section 603A of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997. Titled "Disposal of site to child". This exempts from CGT the transaction where certain conditions are met, mainly -
- the site must be worth not more than €500,000
- the child must build their principal private residence on the site and live there for at least 3 years. If the child disposes of the site without having done this then the CGT which would have accrued on the parent falls due by the child.
It is important to note that one's spouse or partner is not related to one's parent and accordingly any transfer to joint names of the child and their partner may have CAT/CGT implications. If the child gets the site and fulfils all the conditions and then later transfers an interest to their spouse then that does not invalidate the relief.
Given the importance of getting this right to ensure the relief flows through correctly it would be very important to discuss the matter in advance of doing anything with an appropriately qualified person. As there is a family farm involved, perhaps a starting point might be a discussion by the parent with their tax and legal advisors and take it from there.