§ MR. J. G. BUTCHER (York)I beg to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estate duty is claimed in the following case, namely, where a husband 741 predeceases his wife without leaving issue, and property passes on the death of the husband which has been settled on the husband for his life, then on the wife for her life, then (in default of issue) on the husband absolutely; and, whether the Revenue authorities are in such a case instructed to claim a double estate duty, viz., first, estate duty on the capital value of the settled property arising on the cesser of the husband's life interest; and, secondly, estate duty on the value of the husband's absolute reversionary interest in the settled property?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Sir MICHAEL HICKS BEACH) Bristol, W.If the settlement was made by the husband, or by any person other than the wife, estate duty is claimed on the husband's death on the principal value of the settled fund, at a rate ascertained by aggregating with that fund the free estate of the husband, and any other property which, under Section 4 of the Finance Act of 1894, comes into the aggregation. Payment of this duty satisfies any claim for estate duty under the settlement on the wife's death, and the husband's reversionary interest is not regarded as liable to a further charge for estate duty as being property of which he was at the time of his death competent to dispose.