HC Deb 28 July 1896 vol 43 cc836-8

"In computing the amount advanced to any one purchaser under the provisions of the second section of the Purchase of Land (Ireland) Amendment Act, 1888, an advance made to such purchaser as a trustee for another, or as personal representative of a deceased person, shall not be included, and for the purposes of the said section the advance in such eases shall be deemed to have been made to the person or persons personally interested in such advance."

He explained that his proposal was that an advance made to a person in a representative capacity should not be deemed to have been made to himself, and so operate to exclude him from getting any advance on Ins own account.

Clause read a First time.

MR. GERALD BALFOUR

was willing to accept the clause with a slight alteration. He should propose to insert, after the words "shall not," the words "if in Ireland at the time that he was so acting."

Clause read a Second time.

MR. MAURICE HEALY

asked whether the right hon. Gentleman would have any objection to the following words:— If as regards advances made after the passing of this Act, he shall declare at the time that he was so acting.

MR. GERALD BALFOUR

No, Sir. I think those words will meet the case.

Amendment agreed to; clause, as amended, added to the Bill.

MR. MAURICE HEALY moved the following now clause:— On the conveyance or transfer on sale by the proprietor thereof of a holding which has been purchased under the Land Purchase Acts, the balance of the advance due to the Land Commission shall not be deemed to be part of the consideration in respect whereof the conveyance is chargeable with ad valorem duty "under the Stamp Act, 1891. He would give the right hon. Gentleman an example of how the law as it at present stood worked. He had lately in his professional capacity been engaged in carrying out a sale to a tenant-purchaser under the Purchase Bill. The consideration for that purchase was £200, upon which the stamp duty would have been £1 if the man had been purchasing an ordinary holding; but because it was what he might call a land-purchase holding, the annuity payable to the Land Commission was added to the £200, bringing it up to £1,000, and he had to pay £5 stamp duty, although this annuity was only substituted for the rent he had to pay before he purchased. This worked great hardships and imposed a tremendous tax upon these sales. It, in effect, quadrupled, or more than quadrupled, the stamp duty payable on the sale of a holding, simply because that holding was purchased under the Land Purchase Act.

* THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Sir MICHAEL HICKS BEACH,) Bristol, W.

said the stamp duty on a conveyance was payable on the total value of the property conveyed. When a property subject to a mortgage was purchased, the mortgage was considered as included in the value of the property. The hon. Member thought that an exception should be made in the case of properties sold under the Land Purchase Act to a third person. If an exception were made in this case it would also have to be made in the case of property subject to an ordinary mortgage. The tenant bought the freehold title subject to the payment of certain instalments to the Land Commission, and if he had only to pay stamp duty on the purchase money he would obviously escape the payment of stamp duty on the freehold. He could not agree to the clause.

Clause negatived.

MR. T. M. HEALY (Louth, N.) moved the following clause;—