VATREG42350 | The effects of death, insolvency and incapacity on registration: winding up of deceased’s estates

By custom, personal representatives are allowed a year from the death in which to complete administration, including the payment of all debts and taxes. This does not necessarily mean that they must complete the task within the year but that, after a year has passed, the beneficiaries have certain rights, for example, the right to interest on unpaid legacies.

Regulation 9 effectively postpones the date of death for a limited time until some other person is on the register properly. If, after the ‘executor’s year’, the estate has not been finalised, then, for the security of the revenue and for administrative convenience, you should abandon Regulation 9 and register the personal representative in his own right as the taxable person carrying on the business.

The elasticity of this limited period is entirely at the discretion of the Department and it would be wrong to be too rigid over the period of one calendar year, especially in the situation where the winding up of the estate may be close to finalisation.