Budget 2000 proposed significant changes to Capital Acquisitions Tax (CAT) not to Capital Gains Tax (CGT) as stated in January 7th's Family Money. The rules for determining when there is a charge to Irish CAT, which includes gift and inheritance taxes, were substantially amended in the proposed changes and may have caused some confusion for taxpayers. The major changes proposed to CAT are: broadening of the tax base so that any individual resident or ordinarily resident in the State will be liable to these taxes if they receive gifts or inheritances from any source (subject to the normal exemptions); any individual resident or ordinarily resident abroad who receives a gift or inheritance from an Irish resident or ordinarily resident individual will also be liable to these taxes; removal of a tiered tax rate so all benefits will be taxed at 20 per cent.

The rules for determining when there is a charge to CGT were not amended. Since the introduction of CGT, persons who are Irish resident are liable to CGT on worldwide gains while non-residents are liable to CGT on gains on specified Irish assets. This has always been the case and remains unchanged after the Minister for Finance's Budget speech.