Valuation Date for Inheritances

If you receive a gift or an inheritance, you may have to pay Capital Acquisitions Tax (CAT). If CAT is due, you must calculate the taxable value of the gift or inheritance. The taxable value is the amount you pay tax on.

1. What is the Valuation Date?

The valuation date is the date on which the market value of a gift or inheritance is established. The market value is the best price you would get if you sold the item on the open market. The valuation date also determines the date by which a return must be filed and tax must be paid.

The valuation date for a gift is generally the date you receive it. The valuation date for an inheritance is the earliest of the following dates:

• the date the executor or administrator is entitled to retain the asset for your benefit
• the date on which the asset is retained

or

• the date the executor or administrator gives the asset to you.

The valuation date is the date of death if:

• someone gives you a gift in anticipation of their death
• there is a failure to exercise a power of revocation

or

• the property passes by survivorship

It is the date when the beneficiary can get their hands on the inheritance. This could be the date of death, the date of grant of probate, or even later, depending on the circumstances.

The tax free group thresholds and rates of tax that apply when you receive:

• a gift is determined by the date of the gift not the valuation date
• an inheritance is usually determined by the date of death not the valuation date

The grant of probate is the point when the personal representatives are legally allowed to deal with the assets of the estate. The exception to this general rule is where the personal representatives allow a beneficiary to take possession of the asset before the grant of probate date.

The grant of probate date may not be the valuation date:

• If a beneficiary is a joint tenant of a property

• If a beneficiary is living in a property bequeathed to him/her by the deceased, then the date of death is likely to be the valuation date.

• If a cash payment is advanced by the personal representatives to a beneficiary before the issue of a grant of probate

• If the residue of an estate cannot be determined at the date of grant of probate, then the date on which the residue is ascertained is the relevant valuation date.

• Where assets are settled on a discretionary trust under the terms of a will, the valuation date for benefits received by a beneficiary will be the date of appointment of the assets to the beneficiary.

1. Tax Deadlines 

Your CAT return and payment of any attendant liability is due by 31 October following the year in which your valuation date falls.

• Valuation date between 1 Jan–31 Aug → File by 31 Oct same year
• Valuation date between 1 Sept–31 Dec → File by 31 Oct next year

In Ireland, CAT thresholds (as of 2026) are:

• Group A: €400,000 – Parent to child (including adopted children, stepchildren, and certain foster children).
• Group B: €40,000 – Siblings, nieces, nephews, grandparents, and grandchildren.
• Group C: €20,000 – All other relationships.

The date of death sets the threshold and tax rate, so even if the valuation date is years later, the threshold applicable at the time of death applies.

DISCLAIMER This article does not constitute professional accounting, tax, legal or any other professional advice. No liability is accepted by ST Tax for any action taken or not taken in reliance on the information set out in this presentation. Professional accounting, tax, legal and / or any other relevant professional advice should be obtained before taking or refraining from any action as a result of the contents of this article.