Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003 section 71

Exemption for spouses (inheritances)

Section 71 provides that an inheritance taken by a spouse or civil partner from the other spouse or civil partner is fully exempt from capital acquisitions tax (inheritance tax).

• An inheritance taken by a successor who is the spouse or civil partner of the disponer at the date of the inheritance is completely exempt from inheritance tax.
• The exemption applies regardless of the value of the inheritance — there is no upper limit.
• The exempt inheritance is not taken into account when computing tax on any other gifts or inheritances received by the spouse or civil partner.
• The key requirement is that the successor must be the spouse or civil partner of the disponer at the date of the inheritance — the relationship must exist at that point in time.