§ Mr. Farrasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many cases there have been involving betterment levy on compulsory—or voluntary-compulsory—purchases by public authorities which have not been fully offset against the value of an estate for duty purposes.
§ Mr. Denzil DaviesI regret that there is no information about the number of estate duty cases involving the payment of betterment levy on sales of land to public authorities. As the hon. Member 585W is aware, any liability to betterment levy incurred by the estate of a deceased person as a result of a sale in his lifetime of land to a public authority would have been deductible for estate duty purposes; where betterment levy was assessed on personal representatives as a result of a sale during the period of administration, and within six years of the death, the value on which betterment levy was chargeable would have been reduced by the amount of the estate duty attributable to that value.