Missing Paperwork CGT

Dumb Juan

Hi,

 I’m helping my 87 father in law. He recently sold a field he inherited from his Dad in 1955 and we are trying to work out what it cost him, but he has lost all his paperwork, he remembers paying his deceased brother IR£500 under the terms of his father’s will but apart from that he has no memory or records of paying taxes on the inheritance. The Solicitor who did the work, has since died & the Solicitor who took over his practice has now dementia & ceased trading.  So I don’t think we will be able to get access to any records from him.

He would like to pay tax on any gain but we do not have any paperwork to prove cost, so we really not sure to calculate any gain

I was wondering has anyone ever come across this problem before and what was there experience with Revenue with missing paperwork?

 Thanks for your anticipated help with this.   

dbran

Hi there

Capital gains tax only came into existence 6 April 1974. Any assets which were held before this date are deemed to have been sold and reacquired at market value at that date and it is the market value at that date that is the deemed cost for calculating the CGT that is due.

Therefore you will need to get a property valuation at 6 April 1974. This is something that I would imagine is still quite a common occurance and should be obtainable from an estate agent who is experienced in the area of property valuations.

Kind Regards

dbran

Dumb Juan

Thanks.