How much is inheritance tax in Ireland?

Capital Acquisitions Tax is 33% on the value of a gift or inheritance above your tax-free group threshold. A child can receive up to €400,000 from a parent (Group A); Group B is €40,000 and Group C is €20,000, and the tax falls on the recipient.

No. Gifts and inheritances between spouses or civil partners are completely exempt from Capital Acquisitions Tax, regardless of value.

Ireland · 2026

Ireland Inheritance & Gift Tax (CAT) Calculator

Q: What is the small gift exemption?

You can receive up to €3,000 per year from any person completely tax-free. This does not count towards your lifetime group threshold, so regular gifting can transfer wealth without using up the threshold.

Work out Irish Capital Acquisitions Tax — the 33% tax on the person receiving a gift or inheritance above their group threshold (€400,000, €40,000 or €20,000), with the small-gift and spouse exemptions and prior-benefit aggregation.

What you received

Value of gift or inheritance

€

Is this a gift or an inheritance?

Your relationship to the giver

Prior gifts/inheritances in this group From the same group since 5 Dec 1991 — they use up your threshold

€

Qualifies for Agricultural or Business Relief (−90% of value)

Capital Acquisitions Tax due

—

on a benefit of —

You keep –CAT –

Value received€0

less Agricultural/Business Relief (90%)€0

less small-gift exemption€0

less available group threshold€0

Taxable value€0

CAT at 33%€0

Group threshold

€0

Threshold left after this

€0

Effective rate

You keep

€0

How CAT works — it's on the recipient

Ireland's inheritance and gift tax, Capital Acquisitions Tax, works differently from the UK's. It's charged at 33% on the person receiving the gift or inheritance, on the value above their lifetime group threshold. The threshold depends on your relationship to the giver: €400,000 from a parent (Group A), €40,000 for siblings, nieces, nephews and grandchildren (Group B), and €20,000 for everyone else (Group C).

It's a running lifetime total

Thresholds are cumulative: every gift or inheritance you've received within the same group since 5 December 1991 counts. So a benefit decades ago can reduce the threshold available today — which is why prior benefits matter to the figure.

Exemptions that help

The small-gift exemption lets you receive €3,000 per year from any person tax-free, without touching your threshold — so regular gifting from several relatives transfers wealth efficiently. Transfers between spouses or civil partners are entirely exempt, and Agricultural and Business Relief can cut the taxable value by 90% where strict conditions are met.

Frequently asked questions

How much can I inherit tax-free?

Up to €400,000 from a parent, €40,000 in Group B and €20,000 in Group C — across your whole lifetime within each group. Above that, the excess is taxed at 33%.

What is the small-gift exemption?

€3,000 per year per giver, completely tax-free and outside your lifetime threshold — so both parents could give €3,000 each every year.

Do spouses pay CAT?

No — gifts and inheritances between spouses and civil partners are fully exempt, whatever the amount.

Income tax, USC, PRSI

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UK inheritance tax

Charged on the estate

Educational estimate — not tax or legal advice. Ireland 2026: CAT 33% above the group thresholds (A €400,000, B €40,000, C €20,000), cumulative since 5 Dec 1991; €3,000 annual small-gift exemption (gifts only); full spouse/civil-partner exemption; Agricultural/Business Relief shown as a 90% reduction. It doesn't model the Dwelling House Exemption, the detailed relief conditions or clawbacks, favourite-nephew relief, or foreign-asset rules. Confirm with Revenue.ie and a solicitor.