§ Notice of claim
§ 25.—(1) For the purpose of assessing levy no allowance under this Schedule shall be made in respect of an interest in land, as being the dutiable interest for the purposes of this Schedule, unless the chargeable owner, or a successor in title of his in whom the chargeable interest has become vested by operation of law, has served on the Commission a notice (in this Part of this Schedule referred to as a 'notice of claim') specifying that interest and stating—
- (a) that a person specified in the notice died on a date so specified, and that a grant of probate or of letters of administration in respect of his estate was obtained on a date and at a registry so specified;
- (b) that estate duty was leviable on the death of the person specified in the notice; and
- (c) that the person so specified was a predecessor (as defined by paragraph 1(3) of this Schedule) of the chargeable owner.
§ (2) A notice of claim may be served either before or after the service of a notice of assessment of levy in respect of the levy in question, but shall not have effect if served after such a notice of assessment of levy has resulted in an operative assessment of levy.
§ (3) In the application of this paragraph to Scotland, for the reference to a grant of probate or of letters of administration there shall be substituted a reference to confirmation, and for the reference to a registry there shall be substituted a reference to the sheriff court.
§ (4) The preceding provisions of this paragraph shall have effect subject to any regulations made under Part IV of this Schedule in cases to which those regulations apply.
§ Certificate of Commissioners of Inland Revenue
§ 26.—(1) Where a person (in this Part of this Schedule referred to as 'the claimant') serves on the Commission a notice of claim, then if the Commission have served, or intend to serve, a notice of assessment of levy in respect of a chargeable act or event, in such circumstances that for the purpose of assessing levy in respect of it—
- (a) the chargeable interest (or an interest in part of the land in which the chargeable
1456 interest subsists, which would have been the chargeable interest if it had extended to the whole of that land) is the interest specified in the notice of claim, and - (b) the relevant date is a date not more than six years after the date specified in the notice of claim as the date of the death to which it relates,
§ (2) An application under this paragraph shall setout the matters stated in the notice of claim and the name and address of the claimant.
§ 27.—(1) For the purpose of dealing with an application under this Part of this Schedule, the Commissioners of Inland Revenue shall assume that a chargeable act or event has occurred in the circumstances specified in paragraph 1 of this Schedule and that, in relation to that chargeable act or event,—
- (a) the person specified in the notice of claim was a predecessor of the chargeable owner as mentioned in paragraph 1(1)(a) of this Schedule, and
- (b) the interest specified in the notice of claim is the dutiable interest for the purposes of this Schedule.
§ (2) On those assumptions the Commissioners of Inland Revenue shall issue to the Commission a certificate stating—
- (a) the gross principal value of the dutiable interest;
- (b) whether that value was ascertained under sub-paragraph (1) or under sub-paragraph (2) of paragraph 5 of this Schedule;
- (c) if it was ascertained under sub-paragraph (2) of that paragraph, what was agreed or determined, as mentioned in that subparagraph, as being the principal value of the estate of the deceased, or, as the case may be, what was so agreed or determined as being the principal value of such a part of the estate as is mentioned in that subparagraph and what was that part of the estate; and
- (d) the effective rate of duty,
§ 28. Subject to paragraph 30 of this Schedule, a certificate issued under this Part of this Schedule shall be conclusive evidence of the matters stated in the certificate, except that, if it states that the gross principal value of the dutiable interest was ascertained under subparagraph (2) of paragraph 5 of this Schedule, the certificate shall not be conclusive evidence of that value.
§ 29.—(1) If, in a case where a certificate under this Part of this Schedule states that the gross principal value of the dutiable interest was ascertained under sub-paragraph (2) of paragraph 5 of this Schedule, the claimant wishes to dispute that value, on the grounds that it represents an incorrect apportionment of the value specified in the certificate in accordance with paragraph 27(2)(c) of this Schedule, he may, within such time as may be 1457 allowed by the rules, appeal on those grounds against the certificate to the Lands Tribunal; and, if the Tribunal allows the appeal, it shall either discharge the certificate or vary it in such manner as the Tribunal may determine.
§ (2) In this paragraph 'the rules' means any rules made for the purposes of this paragraph under section 3 of the Lands Tribunal Act 1949, or, in the case of proceedings in Scotland before an official arbiter, under section 3 of the Land Compensation (Scotland) Act 1963.
§ 30.—(1) A certificate issued by the Commissioners of Inland Revenue under this Part of this Schedule shall be construed as having been issued on the assumptions specified in paragraph 27(1) of this Schedule and shall have effect without prejudice to any question whether those assumptions are correct or not.
§ (2) In relation to a certificate which is varied on or in consequence of an appeal under paragraph 29 of this Schedule, the preceding sub-paragraph shall have effect in relation to the certificate as so varied.