§ Mr. BUTCHERasked (1) whether any application was made to the Treasury under Section 20 of the Finance Act, 1896, as extended by Section 63 of the Finance (1909–10) Act, 1910, to exempt from Estate Duty and Legacy Duty the picture recently sold by Lady Carlisle to the Trustees of the National Gallery so long as it remained unsold, and, if so, what was the date of such application; whether such application was granted; whether there is any precedent for exempting a single picture from duty under the said Sections so long as it remains unsold; and what was the date of the agreement for the sale of the said picture by Lady Carlisle to the Trustees of the National Gallery; (2) under what provisions of the Finance Act, 1894, or any subsequent Act, the value of the picture by Mabuse, recently sold by Lady Carlisle to the Trustees of the National Gallery, was for the purpose of Estate Duty taken to be £40,000, and not the true value of such picture, which has been stated by the expert employed by the Commissioners of Inland Revenue to be considerably over £40,000?
§ Mr. MASTERMANThis picture was offered to the National Gallery by Lady Carlisle, after Lord Carlisle's death, for £40,000, on condition that the purchaser paid the Death Duties in respect of it. The picture appeared to the Treasury to be of such "artistic interest" as would justify its purchase for the nation, and it thereupon became entitled automatically to the relief afforded in that case by Section 20 of the Finance Act, 1896, as extended by Section 63 of the Finance (1909–10) Act, 1910. Under the conjoint effect of those Sections, any property which consists of pictures, or other things not yielding income, which appeared to the Treasury to be of national, scientific, historic, or artistic interest, is not to be aggregated with other property, but is to form an "estate by itself," and whilst enjoyed in kind is to be exempt from Death Duties, and is only to become chargeable with duty 1871 when sold. There are precedents for granting the benefits of the Sections to a single picture. When the picture was sold the duty became chargeable, in strictness, upon its market value. It is extremely difficult to arrive at the market value of a picture of this nature. Seeing that, in this case, no real question of revenue was involved, a precise valuation would have served no useful purpose commensurate with the trouble and expense involved in getting it. Having regard to these facts, and to the fact that any excess value was in the nature of a gift to the nation, the duty was calculated upon the amount of the actual sale moneys.