For this purpose all property passing on a death is aggregated to form
one estate, on the capital value of which the duty is charged, at rates
graduated from 1 to 15% according to the aggregate value. Besides the
property of which the deceased was competent to dispose at his death,
the aggregated estate includes property in which he had an interest
ceasing on his death, from the cesser of which a benefit accrues, or
which was disposed of by him within twelve months of death, or at any
time, with reservation of an interest to himself. The extent to which
property is deemed to pass on the cesser of a limited interest is
measured by the proportion of the income to which the interest extended,
without regard to the tenure of the deceased or his successor. Property
may therefore be included in the aggregate estate at its capital value
owing to the passing of a life-interest only, the property being settled
so that the absolute ownership does not pass at all. But when the duty
has once been paid on property passing under a settlement, the property
does not again become chargeable until it passes on the death of a
person who is or has been competent to dispose of it. To compensate for
this advantage, when property passing under a settlement made after the
act pays the estate duty, a further duty of 2% (settlement estate duty)
is taken, except where the only subsequent life-interest is that of the
wife or husband of the deceased.
The rate of duty being fixed according to the aggregate capital value of
the whole estate, the charge is distributed according to the different
modes of disposition of the property comprised in the estate. The duty
on the personalty which passes to the executor as such is paid by him,
as the probate duty was, and comes out of the general estate. For the
other property passing, trustees, or any person to whom it passes for a
beneficial interest in possession, are made accountable, and are
required to bring in an account of the property and pay the duty. The
duty is a first charge on such property, and, when it is paid by a
person having a life-interest only, he may charge the _corpus_ of the
property with it. The duty on real property included in an account is
payable by eight yearly or sixteen half-yearly instalments, becoming due
twelve months after the death, and bearing interest at 3% from that
date. On other property, except in a few special cases, the duty bears
interest at 3% from the date of the death. When the estate duty has been
paid no further duty is chargeable on property comprised in the estate
which passes to lineal relations of the deceased. But on property
passing to collaterals or strangers legacy or succession duty, as the
case may be, is payable by the devisees or successors, at a rate (which
is the same whichever duty be payable) fixed according to consanguinity.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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