If you have just seen a grant of probate in the probate register, the natural next question is “does the tax step start now?” The honest answer is that the grant is a strong signal, not a switch. The IT38 is part of Ireland's inheritance tax (CAT) explained, and it runs on the valuation date — a precise Revenue concept that usually tracks the grant but can fall before or after it.
This guide explains what the valuation date is, how it relates to the grant, when your IT38 deadline falls, who actually files the return, and what to do while you are still waiting to hear your figures. Every valuation-date and deadline figure here is taken from Revenue's current guidance.
What is the valuation date?
The valuation date is the date on which the market value of your inheritance is fixed for Capital Acquisitions Tax (CAT). For an inheritance, Revenue defines it as the earliest of three dates: the date the executor or administrator is entitled to retain the asset for your benefit, the date it is actually retained, or the date it is given to you.
For a gift, the rule is simpler — the valuation date is generally the date you receive it. The distinction matters because the IT38 is used for both gifts and inheritances, and the date that starts the clock is determined differently for each.
Note one thing that the valuation date does not change: which group threshold and rules apply to your inheritance. Those are fixed by the date of death. The valuation date is purely about when the value is struck and when your return falls due, not about how much you can inherit tax-free.
The grant and the valuation date: how they line up
In a straightforward estate, the valuation date and the grant date tend to sit close together. The executor usually cannot retain or transfer most assets to a beneficiary until the grant issues, so the grant is often the moment the first limb of the test — being entitled to retainthe asset — is met.
They diverge more often than people expect, though. A fixed cash legacy can be paid out before the grant, in which case the payment date is the valuation date. A share of the residue, or proceeds from a property sold after the grant, can carry a valuation date later than the grant, because the executor cannot retain those funds for you until the accounts or the sale are settled.
In estates we have helped coordinate, the most common source of confusion is a residue share whose valuation date lands weeks after the grant — by which point the beneficiary has assumed the grant date was the trigger. The table below maps the scenarios we see most often to the date that usually drives the clock. It is a guide, not a ruling — your executor or tax adviser confirms the exact date for your benefit.
A fixed cash legacy paid out before the grant issues
The date the money is paid to you (it can be retained for your benefit before probate)
A share of the residue (what's left after debts and legacies)
Usually the grant date, or later once the executor can finalise the accounts and retain your share
A house left to you that the executor transfers after the grant
The date the executor is entitled to assent the property to you, often around the grant date
A house sold by the estate and the proceeds split
The date the net sale proceeds can be retained for you, which may be months after the grant
Phased or instalment distributions
Each portion can carry its own valuation date as it becomes retainable for you
Typical valuation dates by scenario. The valuation date is always the earliest of the three statutory limbs for the specific asset you receive.
| Scenario | Likely valuation date |
|---|---|
| A fixed cash legacy paid out before the grant issues | The date the money is paid to you (it can be retained for your benefit before probate) |
| A share of the residue (what's left after debts and legacies) | Usually the grant date, or later once the executor can finalise the accounts and retain your share |
| A house left to you that the executor transfers after the grant | The date the executor is entitled to assent the property to you, often around the grant date |
| A house sold by the estate and the proceeds split | The date the net sale proceeds can be retained for you, which may be months after the grant |
| Phased or instalment distributions | Each portion can carry its own valuation date as it becomes retainable for you |
When your IT38 clock starts: the 31 October rule
Once you have your valuation date, the IT38 pay-and-file deadline follows a fixed rule. Revenue runs two windows, both landing on 31 October. The window your valuation date falls into decides whether that 31 October is this year or next.
1 January and 31 August
31 October in the same year
1 September and 31 December
31 October in the following year
CAT pay-and-file deadlines by valuation date, per Revenue's important dates for CAT. The same return covers both filing and payment.
| Valuation date falls between | IT38 pay-and-file deadline |
|---|---|
| 1 January and 31 August | 31 October in the same year |
| 1 September and 31 December | 31 October in the following year |
You file the IT38 online through Revenue's myAccount or ROS. A simplified version — the IT38S — is available for more straightforward cases, either online or as a paper form posted with payment to the Collector General, PO Box 354, Limerick. The IT38S can only be used where you are not claiming reliefs other than the Small Gift Exemption, the benefit has no conditions or restrictions, and the property comes from a single person.
The deadline is both a filing deadline and a payment deadline: any CAT due is paid by the same 31 October date your valuation date points to. For a full walk-through of the windows, the late-filing surcharges, and the 80% trigger, see our guide to the IT38 deadline and the 31 October rule.
Who files the IT38? The beneficiary, not the executor
The IT38 is filed by the beneficiary, not the executor. Revenue treats the beneficiary as the accountable person — the one responsible for filing the return and paying any CAT. The grant does not move that responsibility; it simply enables the executor to start distributing, which is what fixes most beneficiaries' valuation dates.
Filing an IT38 is required once the total taxable value of your gifts and inheritances exceeds 80% of your relevant group threshold, aggregating everything you have received within that group since 5 December 1991. This filing obligation applies even if no CAT is actually due — reaching 80% is the trigger, not having a bill.
Where the executor fits in is information-sharing. As part of what executors are responsible for, they complete the Statement of Affairs (Probate) Form SA.2 when applying for the grant. That return tells Revenue who is inheriting what, and Revenue may write directly to a beneficiary it expects to need an IT38. The executor should also tell you your valuation date and the value of your benefit so you can file accurately.
If you don't know your valuation date yet
Many beneficiaries see the grant before they hear any figures. If you are in that position, the first thing to do is ask the executor a clear, specific question: what is the valuation date for my benefit, and what is the value the estate is attributing to it? Those two answers are everything the IT38 turns on.
While you wait, you can still prepare. Confirm your group threshold and relationship to the person who died, gather records of any earlier gifts or inheritances from the same group since 1991 (they aggregate), and note whether any of your benefit is foreign-situated, which can complicate the return. None of this requires the final figures.
If you have just seen the grant issue and want to know where the tax step sits for you — whether the IT38 is even likely to apply, and what to line up next — answer a few questions about your situation and we'll point you to the right next step. If you'd prefer to talk it through, you can contact us.