Transfer apartment to sister

Who has been paying the management fees and landlord insurance since the last tenants moved out?

Can your sister afford them, plus the heating etc bills? (I'm not kidding, there can be some older people who cannot afford to run a house, even if bits gifted to them.)

How is letting someone live in your own house rent free a taxable gift? Everyone still living at home would be liable so.

OP she would be liable for gift tax so just leave the arrangement as is, why would she need to own it if she's no one to leave it to?

Why would it matter? There is still no obligation to charge someone rent.

There is a massive difference between the family home and a rental property.

Because it is.

Maintenance of your own children isn't covered; to a point - but buying them a house and letting them live in it rent-free would be.

Interesting, to your knowledge has anyone ever been charged tax under this rule?

No. But having not ever been a tax solicitor, accountant, revenue official, or personally involved in such a scenario, I can't imagine how I or the vast majority of people would ever be aware of someone else's tax affairs in this situation.

Also, you aren't "charged" tax under this rule. As with many other taxation rules, you are required to declare it. If Revenue discover that you haven't declared it within the allowable timeframes, you many be subject to penalties and interest

Really? And how has this tax been enforced if the receiver of the 'benefit' has no money.

Can the OP simply grant the sister a right of residence, or conversely maintain a right of residence themselves?

There are legal ways to minimize the tax impact. Deeds of covenant can be effective depending on the individual circumstances.

By the OP keeping a right of residence, the gift would be dramatically reduced in value. Not sure would the OP have to justify their reason for it to the Revenue?

Let's suppose this apartment is owned by the OP and used for her family and friends pleasure and convenience. There are a good many well enough off people who have a house or apartment somewhere that they make available to friends and family. Surely in this case, the OP can facilitate whoever they want use it and it's none of Revenue's business at all. We've borrowed such a house from time to time, no holiday rent paid - none of Revenues business.

If my brother comes and cuts my grass out of the goodness of his heart, it's none of Revenues business that he hasn't charged me and hasn't paid tax on it. Ditto for child minding etc etc. Life is full of arrangements like this between family and friends.

In this case, why can the OP not just let her sister live there and come to some arrangement between them as siblings as to costs of maintenance etc. I can't see any role for Revenue in such an arrangement?

But the OP should get advice on this from professional in the field.

There are hundreds of methods available to the state. Neither of us know the circumstances of either the op or her sister but Revenue will determine to best collection method and apply it.

https://www.revenue.ie/en/contact-us/customer-service-contact/collector-generals-division.aspx

That is the Collector generals website. The Collector General is charged with the duty of collecting taxes which have been determined by The Revenue Commissioners, there are several thousand pages on the website describing their collection methods.

Hi OP - I've been thinking about this some more (and despairing about the naivety of some posters above!)

There are two approaches, depending on your sister's circumstances, and the reason you want to gift the apartment to her.

If she's independent, not poor or disadvantaged, and you are being good to family - then you just need a good tax-advisor to work out the most tax-efficient approach, because tax is the biggest cost involved. (And of course a lawyer to help with the sales, and with formalising the paperwork for the caretaker-agreement she has while living there now!).

But if she's disadvantaged (eg disabled, low-income, health problems, a domestic abuse survivor - there are lots of reasons) - then a straight gift may not be the best way to ensure she has a home for the rest of her life. Eg if there's a costly maintenance issue with the building and the management fees increase beyond what she can afford, or if she gets involved with a manipulative person who takes advantage of her.

An option is for you to sell / gift the house to a 3rd party, who give her a tenancy for life with an affordable rent and who do all the property management. Some of the big voluntary housing agencies (eg Clúid, Tuath) have programmes for these types of deals, for older+disabled people. You may have to be a bit persistent to find out details, because often the lower level staff don't know about them. And I'm afraid I don't have current knowledge to help, beyond awareness that the schemes exist.

If you want to go down the latter route, then organisations like Age Concern may have more details of possible options.

I know a person (a solicitor) who has a relative living in his property rent free.

In fact he is paying that relative to "mind" the house. Not sure but i think he mentioned €100 per month. The relative hands him back the cash plus more to cover the management fees whenever he sees him though. The relative also gives him back cash he puts up for any decorating, repairs etc.

I can see the Revenue guidance but what is the root legislation that directs this?

I make products and I set retail prices for them. I can set any retail price I like in theory (disregarding what customer will bear) so I can choose to sell a product at €50 or €1. This clearly affects the potential taxes to the state but despite this, Revenue have no control over what price I set. In instances where the state does fix prices, it's very rare and controversial.

A property owner can surely likewise decide whether to let someone use their property free, at nominal rent or full rent. The concept of a peppercorn rent is around a long time. What legislation is there concerning peppercorn rent?

What you're saying flies in the face of common sense and likely constitutional rights.

Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003

In her 80s (about 2004) my mother sold the family home, transferred proceeds to me where I bought an apartment for herself and myself to live in. It’s not like OP’s situation except had to pay the tax as calculated by house sale value, so was pretty straightforward. Revenue will calculate present house value, so it may take a bit more time, but it shouldn’t be too big a deal.

I don't have time, at the moment, to read the full act. But searching the full text for the term 'rent' throws up no results.

This act deals with the transfer of property etc and the capital gains accruing to the benficiary etc.

What we talking here is that the OP allows her sister to live in her apartment at a peppercorn rent. This is the OPs asset and for them presumably to enjoy and/or decide how they should use it. Why is this any of Revenues business?