What do you pay CGT on?

You have to pay CGT on gains made from the sale, gift or exchange of an asset such as:

• land
• buildings (houses, apartments, or commercial property)
• shares in companies (Irish-resident or non-resident)
• assets that have no physical form such as goodwill, patents and copyright
• currency (other than Irish currency – including cryptocurrency)
• assets of a trade
• foreign life insurance policies and offshore funds
• capital payments (in certain situations).

You may also have to pay CGT on gains for other types of assets. Examples of these assets include antiques, paintings and jewelry.

In some situations, reliefs and exemptions may apply.

You may have made a loss when disposing of an asset. You can use this loss against a capital gain made by you in the year that you made the loss. You can also carry it forward until you can offset it against a capital gain. However, you can't backdate the loss in order to offset it against chargeable gains which were made in earlier years of assessment. Capital losses are also not available for offset against income taxable under corporation tax or income tax.

In relation to married couples and civil partners, surplus losses of one spouse or civil partner in a year of assessment can be transferred to the other spouse or civil partner for offset against chargeable gains arising in the same year of assessment.

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