The Government has been criticised for continuing to levy a “jealousy or resentment tax” on those who inherit money. 

In Budget 2025, Minister for Finance Jack Chambers announced the Government would raise the thresholds at which people start to pay Capital Acquisitions Tax. 

From now on, a parent can gift their child €400,000 tax free - up from €335,000. 

On The Hard Shoulder, Inheritance Tax Reform Campaign chairman Alan Shatter said despite the reform, the tax remains  “outdated” and “anachronistic”. 

“It’s essentially a jealousy or resentment tax,” he said. 

“It’s riddled with systemic unfairness, anomalies and discriminations. 

“In nine other European Union countries, the tax has been abolished - so, it’s not a major step forward for us to follow European colleagues who recognise that this is an iniquitous and unfair tax.”

A person holds and counts budget money. Image: imageBROKER.com GmbH & Co. KG / Alamy

Mr Shatter said he had not expected the Government to abolish the tax but did expect they would recognise the need for “fundamental change and reform”. 

“Sadly, they did not,” he said. 

“They simply don’t get it; what they did yesterday - and I think it was in response to the campaign they launched - was they did increase the exemption thresholds but they did that to the minimal possible extent.” 

Mr Shatter said increasing the threshold at which people pay inheritance tax is a “minor step” in the grand scheme of things.  

“It’s a minor political gesture but they’ve retained all the unfairness, all the discrimination, all the anomalies,” he said.  

“They just haven’t recognised that the majority of people now regard this tax as that’s had it day.”

Supporters of inheritance tax point out relatively few people pay it - the Irish Times report only 15,000 did so last year. 

However, Mr Shatter believes it is still ‘double taxation’. 

“People think this is a tax on wealth - it actually isn’t,” he said. 

“It is effectively the State engaging in State sanctioned graveside robbery of assets that have been accumulated on which individuals have already paid their taxes.” 

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Main image: An older man counting euro notes. Picture by: Rodica Ciorba / Alamy Stock Photo