Form SA.2 Explained: Completing the Statement of Affairs (Probate) on ROS Before You Apply
Form SA.2, the Statement of Affairs (Probate), is the online return you file with Revenue listing everything the deceased owned and owed at the date of death. You complete it through ROS or myAccount, Revenue issues a Notice of Acknowledgement (Probate), and that acknowledgement is the document the Probate Office needs before it will issue a Grant of Representation. In short: no SA.2, no probate.
If you have been told you need to "do the probate forms" for a parent, sibling, or partner who has died in Ireland, the SA.2 is almost always the first real task. It replaced a long paper affidavit in 2020 and moved the whole thing online. The form itself is not difficult, but it asks you to value every asset, list every debt, and correctly classify each beneficiary into a CAT group, and small mistakes here ripple into both the probate application and the later inheritance-tax bill. This guide walks through what the SA.2 is, how to file it, how beneficiary shares and CAT groups are entered, and a full worked example on a €600,000 estate.
Why the SA.2 replaced the old CA24 Inland Revenue Affidavit
For decades, anyone applying for a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration had to swear a paper Inland Revenue Affidavit (Form CA24) in front of a commissioner for oaths. It was a roughly 20-page document, completed by hand and physically lodged.
On 14 September 2020, Revenue, the Courts Service, and the Probate Office launched the online Statement of Affairs (Probate) Form SA.2 to replace it. Since that date, where the person died on or after 5 December 2001, the paper CA24 is no longer accepted, and the SA.2 must be filed electronically (Revenue: Statement of Affairs (Probate) Form SA.2).
You file it online in one of two places, depending on who is completing it:
- myAccount – the everyday portal most individuals already use for PAYE, used by a personal representative filing on their own behalf.
- ROS (Revenue Online Service) – used where a solicitor or tax adviser is filing for the estate, or where a business/registered entity is involved.
Both routes lead to the same form. Inside the portal you open the Gift and Inheritance tile, choose Statement of Affairs (Probate) Form SA.2, and select Submit an application (Revenue: How to file the Form SA.2).
The SA.2 is a Revenue form, but it is filed for the Probate Office. The two are separate bodies. Filing the SA.2 does not itself open a probate case; it produces the acknowledgement you later hand to the Probate Office. Don't assume Revenue has "told the courts" you are ready, you still have to lodge the probate papers yourself.
Listing all assets and liabilities at the date of death
The heart of the SA.2 is a complete snapshot of the estate as it stood on the date of death, not today's value, and not the value when probate finally issues. You enter:
- Irish and foreign assets – the family home and other property, bank and credit-union accounts, An Post savings, shares, life-assurance policies payable to the estate, vehicles, business interests, and personal effects of value.
- Liabilities and expenses – mortgages and loans outstanding at death, unpaid bills, and allowable funeral expenses.
The form separates assets that pass under the will or intestacy (and therefore need a grant) from assets that pass outside the grant, such as a property or joint bank account held in joint tenancy that passes automatically to the survivor by survivorship. Both still need to be disclosed, but they are treated differently for the grant.
Gather supporting figures before you start: date-of-death bank balances (ask each institution for a written balance), a property valuation, and statements for any shares or policies. Revenue's own Guide to completing the Form SA.2 (PDF) sets out each section in order.
Getting the Notice of Acknowledgement (Probate)
When the SA.2 is complete and submitted, Revenue produces a Notice of Acknowledgement (Probate). You can print it immediately from the portal after submission. This is the single most important output of the whole exercise: it is the proof that Revenue has received the statement of the estate, and it carries through to the court stage.
How beneficiary shares and their CAT groups are entered on the SA.2
The SA.2 does not just describe the estate, it also asks who inherits what. For each beneficiary you enter their name, PPS number, relationship to the deceased, and the value (or share) they are receiving. That relationship determines their CAT group, which sets the tax-free threshold for any later Capital Acquisitions Tax.
Three groups apply, based on the beneficiary's relationship to the deceased. For deaths on or after 2 October 2024, the tax-free thresholds are (Revenue: CAT group thresholds):
| CAT group | Who it covers | Tax-free threshold |
|---|---|---|
| Group A | A child of the deceased (and certain grandchildren / foster children) | €400,000 |
| Group B | A parent, sibling, niece/nephew, grandchild, or other lineal ancestor/descendant | €40,000 |
| Group C | Everyone else (cousins, more distant relatives, friends, non-relatives) | €20,000 |
Anything a beneficiary receives above their group threshold is taxed at the CAT rate of 33%. Crucially, the threshold is a lifetime figure for that group: prior gifts and inheritances in the same group since 5 December 1991 are aggregated and eat into it. So a child who already received €100,000 from a parent years ago has only €300,000 of the Group A threshold left.
The SA.2 records the group and the share, but it does not pay the inheritance tax. CAT itself is paid on a separate return, the IT38, by each beneficiary who crosses their threshold. The pay-and-file deadline depends on the valuation date: benefits with a valuation date between 1 January and 31 August are due by 31 October the same year; between 1 September and 31 December, by 31 October the following year (Revenue: completing the IT38).
Worked example: a €600,000 estate with a house, bank accounts, and a small business
The estate of Margaret Walsh, who died in Galway in March 2026. Her son Cathal is the executor and is filing the SA.2 through myAccount. Margaret left a valid will dividing everything equally between her two adult children, Cathal and his sister Aoife. She had no surviving spouse.
Step 1 – List the assets at the date of death:
- Family home in Galway – €390,000
- AIB current and deposit accounts – €95,000
- Credit-union savings – €25,000
- Her interest in a small bookkeeping business (sole trader, valued as a going concern) – €110,000
Gross assets = €390,000 + €95,000 + €25,000 + €110,000 = €620,000.
Step 2 – List the liabilities at the date of death:
- Outstanding small business loan – €14,000
- Funeral expenses – €6,000
Liabilities = €20,000. Net estate = €620,000 − €20,000 = €600,000.
Step 3 – Enter the beneficiaries and their CAT groups. Cathal and Aoife are both children of the deceased, so both are Group A (threshold €400,000). They split the net estate equally:
| Beneficiary | Relationship / group | Share of €600,000 |
|---|---|---|
| Cathal | Son — Group A | €300,000 |
| Aoife | Daughter — Group A | €300,000 |
Step 4 – Sense-check the likely CAT. Each child inherits €300,000. With a Group A threshold of €400,000 and no significant prior gifts from their mother, each is comfortably under threshold, so on these figures alone no CAT is due and neither needs to file an IT38 yet (an IT38 is generally required once a beneficiary uses up 80% of their threshold, here €320,000). The small-business interest may also qualify for Business Relief, which can reduce its taxable value by up to 90% if the conditions are met, but that is claimed later on the IT38, not on the SA.2.
Step 5 – Submit and print the acknowledgement. Cathal submits the SA.2 and prints the Notice of Acknowledgement (Probate). The estate description and beneficiary shares are now on record with Revenue, and Cathal can take the acknowledgement forward to the Probate Office.
Notice how the SA.2 quietly sets up the entire tax picture. Because Cathal correctly classified both children as Group A and split the net (not gross) estate, the thresholds are applied to the right figures. Had he mistakenly recorded a niece or a partner as a beneficiary in the wrong group, the downstream CAT calculation would have been wrong by tens of thousands of euro.
Linking the SA.2 acknowledgement to the probate application
The SA.2 and the Notice of Acknowledgement are Revenue's part of the process. To actually obtain the Grant of Representation you still apply to the Probate Office of the High Court (or the relevant District Probate Registry). The acknowledgement is the bridge between the two.
In practice the sequence is:
- File the SA.2 online and print the Notice of Acknowledgement (Probate).
- Prepare the probate papers, the application form, the original will (if any), and an Oath for Executor or Administrator.
- Lodge those papers together with the acknowledgement at the Probate Office. The office cross-checks the acknowledgement against the SA.2 Revenue holds.
- Once satisfied, the Probate Office issues the Grant of Representation, the legal authority to gather in the assets, pay the debts, and distribute to the beneficiaries.
If the SA.2 details and the probate papers don't match, for example a beneficiary or asset is listed differently, the application can be queried or rejected, so consistency between the two is essential. The Courts Service explains the court-side steps at courts.ie/hubs/probate.
- The SA.2 (Statement of Affairs (Probate)) replaced the paper CA24 Inland Revenue Affidavit on 14 September 2020 and is filed online via ROS or myAccount.
- You list all assets and liabilities at the date of death; on submission Revenue issues a Notice of Acknowledgement (Probate) you print and keep.
- Each beneficiary is recorded with their CAT group: Group A €400,000, Group B €40,000, Group C €20,000 (deaths on/after 2 Oct 2024); excess is taxed at 33%.
- The SA.2 does not pay CAT, beneficiaries who cross their threshold file a separate IT38.
- You lodge the acknowledgement with the probate papers at the Probate Office to obtain the Grant of Representation, so keep the two perfectly consistent.
Frequently asked questions
Is Form SA.2 the same as the old CA24?
It is the online replacement for it. Since 14 September 2020, where the person died on or after 5 December 2001, the paper CA24 Inland Revenue Affidavit is no longer accepted and you must file the Statement of Affairs (Probate) Form SA.2 through ROS or myAccount instead.
Do I need a solicitor to file the SA.2?
No, a personal representative can file it themselves through myAccount. Many people do use a solicitor (filing via ROS) for larger or more complex estates, foreign assets, or where reliefs are involved, but it is not legally required to complete the SA.2 itself.
Does filing the SA.2 mean I have paid the inheritance tax?
No. The SA.2 records the estate and the beneficiaries' shares but does not assess or pay Capital Acquisitions Tax. Any beneficiary who inherits more than their CAT group threshold pays the tax separately on a Form IT38, by the relevant 31 October pay-and-file deadline.
What is the Notice of Acknowledgement (Probate) and why does it matter?
It is the confirmation Revenue generates once you submit the SA.2. You print it from the portal after submission and lodge it with your probate papers at the Probate Office. Without it, the Probate Office will not issue the Grant of Representation.
What values do I use, the value at death or now?
For the SA.2 you use the values as at the date of death. A separate concept, the valuation date, governs when CAT is assessed for each beneficiary and can differ from the date of death; that affects the IT38 timing rather than the SA.2.
How do I decide which CAT group a beneficiary is in?
It depends on their relationship to the deceased. A child is Group A (€400,000); a parent, sibling, niece, nephew, grandchild, or other lineal relative is Group B (€40,000); everyone else, including more distant relatives and non-relatives, is Group C (€20,000). These thresholds are lifetime totals per group.
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