Ireland Inheritance & Gift Tax 2025 — CAT & Thresholds
The rate and how thresholds work
Capital Acquisitions Tax (CAT) — Ireland's inheritance and gift tax — is charged at a flat 33% on the value of a gift or inheritance above the recipient's tax-free threshold. The threshold depends on the relationship between the person giving and the person receiving, and it is a lifetime, cumulative figure: every gift and inheritance received from anyone in the same group since 5 December 1991 counts towards using it up, not just the most recent one.
The three group thresholds
For gifts and inheritances with a valuation date on or after 2 October 2024:
| Group | Relationship | Threshold |
|---|---|---|
| A | Child from a parent (or a parent from a child, in limited circumstances) | €400,000 |
| B | Sibling, niece, nephew, grandchild, or lineal ancestor/descendant outside Group A | €40,000 |
| C | Anyone else — including cousins, friends, unrelated parties | €20,000 |
These figures rose at Budget 2025 (announced October 2024) from the previous €335,000 / €32,500 / €16,250, and Budget 2026 made no further change to any of the three thresholds.
The small gift exemption
Separately from the group thresholds, each individual can receive gifts of up to €3,000 per calendar year from any one person entirely tax-free, and this does not use up any of their group threshold or need to be reported on a CAT return at all. It applies only to gifts, not inheritances, and only to outright gifts — not, for example, to the free use of an asset. Because it is per-donor, both parents can each give a child €3,000 in the same year (€6,000 total) without touching the child's €400,000 Group A threshold.
When you must file a return
A CAT return is only required once the taxable value of a gift or inheritance, aggregated with prior gifts/inheritances in the same group since 1991, exceeds 80% of the relevant group threshold — €320,000 for Group A, €32,000 for Group B, €16,000 for Group C. Below that level there is nothing to file, even though tax only actually becomes due once the full threshold itself is exceeded.
Worked example
An only child inherits €520,000 from a parent, having received no previous gifts or inheritances from either parent.
- Group A threshold: €400,000
- Taxable value: €520,000 − €400,000 = €120,000
- CAT due: €120,000 × 33% = €39,600
If the same child had already received a €50,000 gift from that parent five years earlier (using €50,000 of the Group A threshold, after deducting that year's €3,000 small gift exemption, so €47,000 counted), the threshold remaining at the time of the inheritance would be €400,000 − €47,000 = €353,000, increasing the taxable value of the inheritance to €520,000 − €353,000 = €167,000 and the CAT due to €167,000 × 33% = €55,110.
Paying and filing
The filing and payment deadline turns on the valuation date, not the date you actually receive the asset. If the valuation date falls between 1 January and 31 August, the CAT return and payment are due by 31 October of that same year. If it falls between 1 September and 31 December, both are due by 31 October of the following year — effectively giving those later valuation dates extra time. Revenue has, in some years, extended the deadline by a couple of weeks for taxpayers who both file and pay through ROS (Revenue Online Service); the ROS extension does not apply if only one of filing or payment is done online.
FAQ
Q: Can a married couple give a Group A threshold's worth of gifts each to their child? A: The €400,000 Group A threshold applies to the child's total receipts from both parents combined (parents are treated as within the same disponer group for a child's threshold), not €400,000 from each parent separately.
Q: Does the small gift exemption reduce my lifetime threshold? A: No. Gifts within the €3,000-per-donor annual limit are disregarded entirely — they neither use up the threshold nor need to be reported.
Q: What if I inherit from a step-parent or grandparent? A: A step-parent counts within Group A for CAT purposes; a grandparent counts within Group B, at the €40,000 threshold, not the €400,000 one that applies to a parent.
Sources
Figures verified against Revenue guidance as of 30 July 2026:
- Revenue — "Capital Acquisitions Tax (CAT) thresholds, rates and aggregation rules" (Group A/B/C thresholds of €400,000/€40,000/€20,000 from 2 October 2024; prior €335,000/€32,500/€16,250 thresholds; 33% rate)
- Revenue — "Small Gift Exemption" (€3,000 per donor per calendar year, gifts only, no return required)
- Revenue — "How and when do you pay and file?" (valuation-date-based 31 October deadline; 80% of group threshold filing trigger)
- Section 72 / Budget 2026 commentary (confirms no change to CAT thresholds in Budget 2026)