Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003 section 45A

Obligation to retain certain records

Section 45A requires accountable persons to keep and retain records for capital acquisitions tax (CAT) purposes, specifies the types of records that must be kept, prescribes the retention period, and imposes a penalty for non-compliance.

• Accountable persons must retain records sufficient to enable them to make a true CAT return and to substantiate any claim to relief or exemption.
• Records include books, accounts, documents and any other data (whether manual or electronic) relating to property acquired gratuitously, associated liabilities and expenses, consideration paid, reliefs or exemptions claimed, and the valuation of the property.
• Records must be retained for six years from the valuation date where a self-assessment return is filed on time, or for six years from the date Revenue receives the return where it is filed late or where Revenue requests a return or additional return.
• A penalty of €3,000 applies for failure to comply with the record-keeping requirements, but this penalty does not apply to a person who is not liable to CAT on the gift or inheritance in question.