HC Deb 29 April 1909 vol 4 cc516-7

My last proposal is to extend to free estates the concession made by section 20 of the Finance Act, 1896, which grants exemption from estate duty in respect of objects of national, scientific, or historic interest forming part of a settled estate. The estate duty in respect of such objects, whether forming part of a free or settled estate, will only become chargeable in future if and when they are actually sold. This concession will, I hope, result in keeping together many collections whose owners are, from various reasons, unable to take advantage of the privilege afforded by the present law, and so keep in the country many national treasures which would otherwise, more especially in view of the prospective change in the United States customs tariff upon such objects, tend to find a home on the other side of the Atlantic.

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