Journalists to share Wicklow visit with audience of 22 million
FIVE leading travel and lifestyle journalists from Spain with a combined readership of 22 million people paid a visit to a number of Garden county destinations as guests of Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland.
The journalists works for daily and weekly newspapers, as well as Spanish radio stations. They intend to highlight the wide range of things to see and do in Ireland to their readers and listeners. Their action-packed itinerary included visits to Glendalough, the Powerscourt Estate and the Powerscourt Distillery.
Barbara Wood, Tourism Ireland’s Manager Spain, said: ‘Tourism Ireland was delighted to invite these influential Spanish journalists to visit Ireland and Wicklow this week, to experience for themselves some of the many great things to see and do here.
‘They’ve been really impressed by our visitor attractions, wonderful scenery and the friendliness of the people they’ve met.
‘Tourism Ireland is undertaking an extensive programme of promotional activity once again in 2019, to continue to grow Spanish visitor numbers – and visits like this are an invaluable part of Tourism Ireland’s overall promotional programme, helping to get positive exposure for Ireland the media in Spain.’ WITH inheritance tax, the tax-free threshold from parent to child has fallen from a high in 2009 of €542,544 to a current figure of €335,000. At the same time the tax rate has risen from 20 per cent to 33 per cent. The taxfree threshold for other relatives is just €32,500
There are additional reliefs for farming assets called Agricultural Relief and for business assets called Business Relief. Instead of the market value of such assets being used to calculate the tax, only 10 per cent of the value is brought into charge.
A farm might be worth €500,000 but after Agricultural Relief it is only worth €50,000 or 10 per cent of the market value. The same principle applies to business assets and shares in companies which own business property.
Where a person has no children but a nephew or niece helps regularly in a business or a farm, then that person may be treated as a child of the owner and qualify for the €335,000 exemption. This is commonly known as the Favourite Nephew Relief.
Inheritance Tax operates from the date of death of the person who owned the assets. It is also possible to avail of the same tax-free threshold and reliefs with a lifetime gift. The Gift Tax legislation is the other side of Inheritance Tax and similar rules apply.
However, unlike transfers by will, lifetime transfers expose the transferor to Capital Gains Tax and the recipient to Stamp Duty. Neither arises for inheritances.
Apart from the Agricultural and Business Reliefs there is a private residence relief which may be useful. Here, if a person lives in a house for three years, owned by somebody else, rent free and has no other house then on the death of the owner of the house the person may inherit the house tax free.
Very often, a person may inherit property but will have to sell it in order to pay the Inheritance Tax. This situation can be avoided by creating a Discretionary Trust under the will and allowing a three-year period when a person has a right to the income of the estate. This period of three years will allow the beneficiary to organise their affairs in a tax efficient way and avoid having to pay tax.
Firstly, it avoids a tax on the beneficiaries as assets are going to a trust and secondly a six per cent initial charge on trust assets is delayed for three years as some person has a right to the trust income.
Ultimately assets will have to leave the trust and pass to individuals. However, that can be done when a recipient is in a position to pay whatever tax arises.
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