Could the joint bank account I hold with my sister trigger a tax bill should she pass away?

I hold a joint bank account with my sister and we are worried about any tax bill that might be triggered by this account should one of us pass away.

Where two sisters hold a joint bank account, is there is a tax liability for the remaining sister when the other one passes away?

Are funeral expenses deductible from any tax bill that arises after the death of one of the sisters? Rose, Tralee, Co Kerry Where two sisters hold a joint bank account, the remaining sister will inherit the 50pc share of the sister who has died. The inheritance is 50pc of the money in the account — not the full amount.

In this case, the tax which might apply is Capital Acquisitions Tax (CAT), which is typically paid on gifts or inheritances. Whether there is a tax liability or not depends on the amount of money involved. Assuming the surviving sister has not previously received any gifts or inheritances, the first €30,150 of the inheritance is exempt from tax. Any small gifts (in total, less than €3,000 per annum) are ignored, because they are also exempt.

The funeral expenses are tax-deductible if they need to be paid from the inheritance.

If the amount of the inheritance is 80pc or more of the €30,150 figure above, a tax return must be made to the Revenue Commissioners — even where there may be no tax liability. I recently sold an overseas property which I had in Slovakia. I am tax compliant in both countries. I wish to gift the proceeds of the property to my son who is living in Britain for the last five years.

However, he has already received the maximum inheritance allowance in Ireland.

Will his inheritance tax be calculated under the British or Irish tax system? Eamon, Sallynoggin, Co Dublin Capital Acquisitions Tax (CAT) is payable in Ireland and not in Britain — assuming that you are an Irish resident and are not domiciled in Britain. In Ireland, CAT applies if either the donor or the donee are Irish resident. You are Irish resident I assume, so Irish tax applies.

In Britain, tax applies only if the donor (in this case, you) is domiciled in Britain — or if the property or asset gifted is in Britain. I am assuming that the cash you are giving is not in a British bank account.

Therefore, assuming you are not British domiciled, there is no British tax to be paid. You could be British-domiciled if your father was born there or if he (or you) settled there permanently. If you think this could be the case, check it out in detail as the rules for deciding where someone is domiciled are complicated. My father was a retired farmer who died earlier this year. He and my mother co-owned 20 acres of land. They had it rented out on a short-term let and when he died, my mother inherited it all. They have owned this land since before 1970.

My mother is now thinking of selling this land. Does she qualify for retirement relief or exemption from Capital Gains Tax (CGT) when she sells? Saoirse, Dún Chaoin, Co Kerry Your mother should have little or no CGT to pay on the half share in the land which your mother didn’t already own — and which she inherited from your father. This is because, when your father died earlier this year, she is treated for tax purposes as if she had acquired it from him at whatever the market value of the land was on the date of his death. To be sure of the figure, get an independent professional valuation of the land at this date.

Therefore, there is a capital gain only to the extent that the land she inherited from your father has gone up in value this year.

It is a different case for the second part of the land — that is, the land which your mother already owned. On the face of it, there will be a capital gain should the land be sold — and so a CGT bill is likely. The gain is the difference between the sale price of the land when it is sold and the value of the land on April 5, 1974 — when CGT was introduced. It’s not easy now to come up with a value for land more than 40 years ago, but a valuer can make a reasonable estimate. I suspect that in today’s money, the amount will be small anyway. That 1974 value can be indexed for inflation (that is, you can multiply it by the index figure which is 7.528) and the costs of sale and so on can be deducted. The current CGT rate is 33pc.

Retirement relief may apply here, depending on the past situation. If the land, before it was let (and not more than 25 years ago), was farmed by you or your husband for at least ten years, retirement relief might apply. There are detailed rules so check this out thoroughly if you think this is a possibility. I wish to gift €20,000 to my sister-in-law (though my brother and her have not yet married so she is effectively a friend for tax purposes) so she can set up a business. What would be the tax implications of me doing so? Christine, Blackrock, Co Dublin The first €3,000 per annum of any gift you give her is tax exempt. As well as that, assuming she has got no other gifts or inheritances (ignoring gifts under €3,000 a year) in the past from non-relatives, the next €15,075 of the gift is tax free because that is the amount your sister-in-law can receive from nonfamily members over her lifetime without having to pay Capital Acquisitions Tax (CAT).

So you could give her €18,075 this year without triggering a tax bill for her — or you could give her the €20,000 and there would be some small tax to be paid (that is, 33pc tax on the excess over €18,075).

You could also give her up to €3,000 in 2017 without triggering any tax bill — because of the annual exemption mentioned above.

You need to send a gift tax return to Revenue — even if there is no tax. Curiously, even if the wedding had taken place and she was your sisterin-law, the above advice wouldn’t change. I am a contractor who works from home. Most of my contracts are with one company and occasionally, I travel to this company’s office for the purpose of work. Can I write the cost of such travel off my tax bill? Tom, Ballycotton, Co Cork Yes. Under the law, a self-employed person is entitled to deduct expenses which are “wholly and exclusively” for the purposes of his trade. Clearly, if your work base is your home and you need to visit your main customer, that is an expense which is wholly and exclusively for your trade.

It is worth checking whether your selfemployed status is clear. Sometimes, when a person works mainly for one customer, the relationship could be deemed to be an “employment” rather than “contractor” relationship. If this were the case, the rules are different.

Not alone would the travel costs you mention be disallowed for tax purposes, but there would be wider implications affecting both parties, such as PAYE and PRSI. There are also legal implications as employees have rights under employment law. There is no clear definition of “employee” or “contractor” and it can be a grey area. In general you have to look at things such as working hours, the degree of supervision, who supplies any equipment and so on.