Principle Residence ineritance query

BoiPolar

Hi all,

I have a query about the T&C's of the principle residnece inheritance relief so hopefully someone here knows more.

This is what I found on revenue's website:



"The donor must have occupied the dwelling house as his/her only or main residence at his/her date of death. This requirement will be relaxed in situations where the deceased person had to leave because of ill health e.g. to live in a nursing home;

The beneficiary must have continuously occupied the dwelling house as his/her only or main residence for a period of three years immediately before the date of the inheritance. Where the dwelling house on which the exemption is claimed, replaced another dwelling house within the three year period, this condition will be satisfied where the beneficiary has continuously occupied both houses as his/her only/main residence for a total period of three out of the four years, immediately prior to the date of the inheritance;

The beneficiary must not be entitled to an interest in any other dwelling house at the date of the inheritance..."

If I am to use this relief to inherit my my main residence down the line, does this mean I cannot now buy a house/property as an investment.

If I cannot have an interest in any other property, does this also mean the relief cannot be used if I stand to inherit other property in addition to the main residence?

I was sure there'd be plenty of cases with people being left multiple properties and using the relief for the main residence??

Any info much appreciated!
Thanks.

Penguin3029

What you're referring to is called the dwelling house exemption. As way of context, it was originally introduced for situatuions where an individual is still living in the family home and his/her parents have died. It was seen as inequitable to then charge that person tax on inheriting the house, particularly when they might not have the cash to pay it without selling the house.

To your actual questions:

If I am to use this relief to inherit my my main residence down the line, does this mean I cannot now buy a house/property as an investment.
You cannot have the interest in another property at the time of the inheritance. The law around this was changed in the last Budget, but previously you could dispose of the interest in another property before inheriting it. The problem there is it's not always easy to plan for inheriting a property, and the rule can be changed in any given Budget.

If I cannot have an interest in any other property, does this also mean the relief cannot be used if I stand to inherit other property in addition to the main residence?
By "other property", do you mean propery like a car, shares or household items? That's all fine, you can inherit whatever else once it's not a resiedntial property. If you mean a property as in a residential propery (i.e. a house/apartment/etc.) that's not fine for the exemption.

Hope this clears it up for you.