Budget 2018: Lack of increase in inheritance tax threshold likely to disappoint

It was all quiet on the inheritance tax front, despite expectations that the Government would move to increase the tax free threshold for children inheriting from a parent.

The Government had previously committed to increasing the threshold on inheritance or capital acquisitions tax, currently levied at a rate of 33 per cent, from a parent to a child to € 500,000. Last year it raised it to €310,000 and, given that the yield from the tax has increased, despite the rise in the ceiling, it had been expected that it might shorten the distance again this year, with a further increase on the cards.

However, the only change it announced was related to the treatment of solar farms. It means that for the purpose of CAT agricultural relief and CGT retirement relief, agricultural land placed under solar infrastructure will continue to be classified as agricultural land, but with a condition restricting the amount of the farmland that can be used for solar infrastructure to 50 per cent of the total farm acreage. Formerly it would no longer have been deemed agricultural land.

Cost may have been an issue in not opting to increase the thresholds, as every 10 per cent increase in the threshold would have cost about € 22 million. The change to solar farms has no cost.