THE EARL OF CAMPERDOWNMy Lords, the noble Marquess who leads the House will recollect that he was good enough to say that he would to-day answer the Question which I asked yesterday—namely, whether, in the case of officers and men of the Navy and Army who may lose their lives during the present war on active service, their property will be charged with Death Duties.
THE MARQUESS OF CREWEMy Lords, I am able to give the noble Earl in general terms the information for which he asked. He will remember that, as the law now stands, the estates of deceased officers or soldiers killed in action or dying in the campaign can be relieved of payment of all duties provided that the estate does not exceed the sum of £5,000. That is the limitation which was fixed in 1900, and is still operative. But it was felt that something further ought to be done in order that nobody might entertain the thoroughly unpalatable idea that the Revenue was profiting by the deaths of those who lost their lives in the service of the country. The proposition, therefore, which the Chancellor of the Exchequer makes is this, that in lieu of calculating the duty on an estate of any value above £5,000 upon the total capital value, the calculation should be made on the value discounted, according to the three per cent. actuarial tables, by the expectation of life which would, according to his age, have been held by the deceased officer. The House will see, therefore, that the younger the man is who is killed or who dies, the larger the proportion which his estate escapes in the calculation of the duty. Where a man is far advanced in life, he would pay a larger proportion. This applies only to the estate as inherited by the wife or passing by lineal descent. But the House will remember that there is a provision in the Finance Act of this year with regard to the exemption attached to rapid successions, which in some other cases would, of course, be operative in saving the estate from the full charge. That is all that I can tell the noble Earl, and I think it answers the Question which he put yesterday.
THE EARL OF CAMPERDOWNI am glad to get the crumb of comfort which the noble Marquess has given me, but I am not quite certain that I thoroughly understand the answer. Say that a man is killed in action when he is 35 years of age, and Death Duty is levied on the estate that he leaves. Am I right in supposing that the amount which would be 548 levied would be calculated on the basis of his having died at the ordinary time—say at 60 or 65 years of age—and that the difference would be discounted according to the three per cent. tables?
THE EARL OF CAMPERDOWNI should have liked the whole better; but I am obliged to the noble Marquess for the concession.
THE MARQUESS OF CREWETaking the average, I understand that it works out at something like a relief of 50 per cent. of the duty all-round, although variously allocated according to the ages of the different officers.