§ MR. ALLISON (Cumberland, Eskdale)asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made any estimate as to the proportion in which personal and real estate will contribute the sum of £800,000 to be raised by the 1545 Estate Duty in the present financial year; and, if so, whether he will state it to the House.
§ *MR. GOSCHENThe estimate of £800,000 does not take into consideration the produce of settled property, either real or personal. It is entirely based on the probable amount of the new duty on personalty passing by will. Realty will contribute nothing in the first year, because the new duty in the case of realty follows the Succession Duty in respect of the date of payment, and no portion of the Succession Duty is payable till 12 months after the successor comes into possession. In a full year the amount derived from realty is estimated at £116,000, ascompared with £1,000,000 derived from personalty passing by will, the taxable amount of such personalty in the country being far larger than that of realty. It may be asked why, if no revenue is to be derived from realty in the present financial year, I put the tax upon realty at all. My answer is that, as it is necessary to call upon property to make a special contribution to the exigencies of national defence, all property must bear its share in that contribution, and no Minister could propose to place the extra burden on one form of property alone to the exclusion of others.