§ 47. Sir WILLIAM DAVISONasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in view of the annual inroads in the national 227 capital made by Death Duties, often involving the breaking up of estates and businesses, and of the repeated refusal of the Treasury to allow taxpayers to provide for these payments during their lifetime by insurance, he will create a special Death Duty stock bearing a low rate of interest which could be purchased by taxpayers to meet the Death Duties on their estate, any such Death Duty stock not to be included in the testator's estate for assessment for Death Duty, save any balance of such stock not required for this purpose which would be aggregated with the rest of the estate?
Mr. CHAMBERLAINMy hon. Friend is mistaken in supposing that the Treasury place any impediment in the way of taxpayers providing for Estate Duty liabilities by life insurance. The particular proposal which he makes is open to objections in principle and would involve cost to the Exchequer which I could not contemplate.
§ Sir W. DAVISONIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that during the past year four large estates were valued for death duties at approximately £14,000,000, of which the Treasury took £7,000,000, and that this involves a loss of revenue of £170,000 a year which will have to be made good by taxation? Is it not desirable that some such proposal as that indicated in the question should be adopted by the Treasury in order to save these heavy revenue losses?