§ Lieut.-Colonel Dowerasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether refund will be allowed on all land and buildings that have since 1939 been subjected to payment of Death Duties, assessed on the current market value, when compulsorily acquired for post-war planning on a basis of 1939 prices, where such prices are less than the market value upon which death duties have been levied.
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§ Sir J. AndersonI must ask my hon. and gallant Friend to await the issue of the forthcoming Town and Country Planning Bill and White Paper. As regards the basis of valuation for Estate Duty purposes, I would refer him to the provisions of Section 7 (5) of the Finance Act, 1894, from which he will see that the basis of valuation of property passing on a death is the market value at the time of death. The suggestion which my hon. Friend makes would therefore require an amendment of the law.