Families and the inheritance tax

Sir, – Further to “Single people are ‘the poor relatives’ when it comes to inheritance tax” (Your Money, February 24th), inheritances from a parent or sibling are treated exactly the same way for tax purposes (under the Group A and Group B thresholds, respectively) regardless of whether the beneficiary is single, married, or has children. The Revenue bill, which your interviewee says was “sobering” and hit her “like a ton of bricks”, is identical to what she would have had to pay if she was married with children. While married couples are treated preferentially in relation to income tax, this benefit is often greatly overstated. A married couple earning average wages save an average of just €40 each per week in tax by being married, and once a couple earn more than around €80,000 between then the income tax advantage of marriage vanishes entirely.

The only significant tax benefit of marriage is that a person can bequeath an unlimited amount tax-free to their surviving spouse, a measure which is clearly designed to encourage people to provide for their families after they die. Should this should be abolished? What social good would be served by doing so?

It is incorrect to suggest that the upcoming referendum is necessary to “tackle” the tax treatment of single and unmarried people. As the Supreme Court made clear in the recent O’Meara case, the Oireachtas is free to amend all current tax and social welfare arrangements by ordinary legislation, subject only to the constitutional proviso that married couples cannot be discriminated against, relative to unmarried couples. – Yours, etc,

BARRY WALSH,