ESTATE DUTY. (Hansard, 12 May 1925)

§ Sir N. MOORE

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that under the Finance (1909-10) Act, Section 60, the Commissioners of Inland Revenue for the purposes of Estate Duty, in estimating the principal value of any property, are to fix the price according to the market price at the time of the death without allowing any reduction on the ground that the whole property is to be placed on the market at one and the same time, unless it is proved to. the Commissioners that the value of the property has been depreciated by reason of the death of the deceased, in which case such depreciation is to be taken into account, and that this proviso is considered as not applying to public companies, and in practice the Commissioners insist on taking the value of stocks and shares in public companies at the prices quoted to Stock Exchange official lists as on the date of death although an attempt to market holdings at one time would mean disaster to the estate and to the stockholders in the industrial concerns in which the stock was held; whether he is aware of the case of an estate valued as at the date of death at about half a million pounds on the above basis, consisting of very large holdings in industrial concerns, the value of which since the death has greatly depreciated so that even if the shares were saleable on the market at current prices, which is impracticable having regard to the extent of the holdings, the amount of the Estate Duty as assessed on the estate and the interest is barely covered by the present market value of the holdings, so that there is no surplus whatever left for the beneficiaries to liquidate other indebtedness; and whether, in view of these facts, he is prepared to recommend legislation with a view to rectifying the matter?