An article you wrote some time back indicated that where children were being gifted a rental property worth less than €400,000, no capital acquisitions tax (CAT) would be due from the child. But would capital gains tax (CGT) be due from the parents?Revenue.ie say CGT is due if you dispose of an asset. They clarify that to dispose includes to gift. So, can I avoid CGT on a rental property by gifting to my child?TDThe Revenue guidance here is crystal clear: regardless of the child’s wriggle room under capital acquisitions tax (CAT), otherwise known as inheritance tax or gift tax, the sale or disposal of any asset other than the family home will give rise to a capital-gains tax assessment for you.Your child will avoid liability to CAT as long as the value of the rental property you are gifting them is less than €400,000.There is one “but” here. That €400,000 is cumulative, so if you or the child’s mother have previously given them gifts worth in excess of €3,000 in a tax year, the amount over the €3,000 small-gift threshold already counts against their €400,000 lifetime threshold. That would reduce the value of this rental property they can take without facing CAT.Once they breach the €400,000 lifetime limit, they become liable to CAT at 33 per cent on anything above that ceiling.Turning to you, you cannot avoid capital gains tax (CGT) by gifting this rental apartment to your child. Only death cheats the taxman when it comes to capital gains. Anything passing under inheritance will be assessed against CAT but no capital gains will be due. Any CGT liability lapses with the death of the owner of the property.Death aside, you will be taxed on the difference between the market value of this property when it came into your possession – by purchase, inheritance or gift – and its value at the time you gift it to a child.If your ownership of it predates 2003, you will be able to index its acquisition value to account for inflation up to 2003. If it was a family home for part of the time you owned it, you will also get a pro rata deduction for that.In addition, you are allowed deduct costs directly incurred in acquiring or disposing of the property – such as legal fees – and have relief from CGT on the first €1,270 of any gains crystallising in a tax year.But those things aside, you cannot avoid CGT (levied at 33 per cent) just by gifting it to a child.Crossed wires on dwelling house reliefI’ve been living in a house for a number of years. It belongs to my father. I own no other house. My father, a divorcé, lives in another house, also owned by him. I’m an only child so I will inherit my father’s entire estate. Will the inheritance of the house where my father lives prevent me getting dwelling house relief in the house where I live? OLThe rules changed some years back in this area – and not in a way that does you any favours.Dwelling house relief – which allows people to inherit a property free of capital acquisitions tax/inheritance tax – is available only to people who have lived in the owner’s only or main family home for at least three years before the owner dies, who own no other property, who inherit the house and who continue to live there for another six years.You are not living with your father in his family home but in another property that he owns, so you will not be entitled to dwelling house relief. If, when he dies, you inherit both houses, you will be liable to inheritance tax on anything you receive worth above €400,000.Even if you were living in his home with him, this second property would be an issue when it came to availing of dwelling house exemption.Can I see my sister’s will?Is it possible for me to obtain a copy of my sister’s will assuming I am not a beneficiary?JDIt is, but not until probate has been granted. Up to that point, the only person with a right of access to the will is the executor. Not even the beneficiaries are entitled to see the will although, in practice, many executors will certainly share the terms with beneficiaries.Once probate has been granted, the will becomes a public document and anyone can get a copy on payment of a small fee – €15 in most cases – from the probate office that proved the will.Falling foul of Revenue on small gift exemptionHas the small gift exemption increased to €3,500 this year? Also, as a parent, am I able to gift to a brother or sister who in turn would gift that money to my son or daughter or is this considered the parent gifting directly to the child?AKThere has been no change to the small gift exemption threshold for many years, nor am I aware of any great pressure to make one. It remains at €3,000 per tax year.It is a very broad exemption but the one thing you are not allowed to do is gift Person A on the understanding that they are, in turn, gifting the money to Person B. In that case, Person B is deemed to have received the gift from you, not from Person A.In your case, if you gifted your brother or sister on the understanding that they would pass it on to your child, Revenue would assess the gift as coming directly from you to your child. If that brought the amount your child received from you in a given tax year above the €3,000 threshold, the balance above that ceiling would come off their lifetime capital acquisitions tax-free threshold – €400,000 currently in the case of a child receiving from a parent.Please send your queries to Dominic Coyle, Q&A, The Irish Times, 24-28 Tara Street Dublin 2, or by email to dominic.coyle@irishtimes.com with a contact phone number. This column is a reader service and is not intended to replace professional advice