§ Mr. Heddleasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the total acreage of agricultural land which is attracted to capital transfer tax in each of the years 1976 to 1981 inclusive; and what proportion of the annual total acreage for those years is accounted for by agricultural land which has been let.
§ Mr. Peter Rees[pursuant to his reply, 27 January 1981, c. 359]: I regret that information on which to base an estimate is not available.
§ Mr. Heddleasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the total amount of capital transfer tax derived from agricultural land which is (a) farmed by the landowner and (b) which is let by the owner for each of the years 1976 to 1980 inclusive.
§ Mr. Peter Rees[pursuant to his reply, 27 January 1981, c. 359]: I regret that information on which to base an estimate is not available.
§ Mr. Heddleasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the total amount of tax obtained from investment income surcharge levied on rents from agricultural land in each of the years 1976 to 1981 inclusive.
§ Mr. Peter Rees[pursuant to he reply, 27 January 1981, c. 360]: I regret that the information is not available.
§ Mr. Heddleasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proposals his Department has for adjusting capital transfer tax in order to encourage owners to let agricultural land where economic and land management considerations make this desirable.
§ Mr. Peter Rees[pursuant to he reply, 27 January 1981, c. 360]: As I indicated during the Standing Committee debate on last year's Finance Bill, we 468W recognise the importance of encouraging owners of agricultural land to let it and we are also aware of the problems, fiscal and otherwise, that face these owners.
§ Mr. Heddleasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will estimate the number of acres which have to be sold to pay for capital transfer tax by a landowner who (a) farms his own land and (b) lets his land for each of the following units of acreage: 100 acres, 500 acres, 1,000 acres and 2,000 acres.
§ Mr. Peter Rees[pursuant to he reply, 27 January 1981, c. 360]: The amount of capital transfer tax payable by a landowner will depend on a number of factors, including among others the size of his total estate, the amount of any previous transfers made by him and whether the transfer was made in life or on death. Nor can it be assumed that he would be required to sell land, rather than other assets, to meet any liability that may arise. I am afraid therefore, that I cannot give an answer to my hon. Friend's queston that would not be misleading.