Looking for advice please.
My elderly father is looking to sell shares he has had for over 30 years. He feels he should sell these rather that leave the shares to his estate.
Total cashed in amount is circa 75,000.
Is there a best way to go about doing this to minimize tax implications? Time is not on our side I fear but any advice appreciated.
If he sells, he will pay CGT on the increase in value. Then, on his death, the bequest of cash is subject to tax again via CAT on the beneficiaries.
If the shares are bequeathed directly, there's no Capital Gains Tax and you only need consider CAT. In either scenario, CAT may well be reduced or even eliminated because of the group thresholds.
Unless he's short of cash and needs money right now, there's little if any reason to sell the shares.
In the interests of tidying things up - if your father has held the shares for as long as he has and the shares are in certificate form, it could be worth assisting him now with transforming them into an electronic holding.
Any of the major Irish stockbrokers should be able to assist you.
Google - "how to sell paper share certificates" and there is some practical info there (the particular link I want to post here is blocked - Moneyguide Ireland).
Note - this is just for administration purposes - I'm not advocating selling the shares for the reasons already discussed above.