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19 1973

FINANCE ACT, 1973

PART III

Death Duties

Alteration of rates of estate duty.

53. —In the case of persons dying on or after the 16th day of May, 1973, the scale of rates set out in the Eighth Schedule to this Act shall be, and shall have effect as, the scale of rates of estate duty in lieu of the scale set out in the Second Schedule to the Finance Act, 1972 , and appropriate repayments shall be made accordingly.

Provisions consequential on alteration of rates of estate duty.

54. —(1) Section 26 (1) of the Finance Act, 1961 , is hereby amended by the substitution of “ten thousand pounds” for “seven thousand five hundred pounds” (inserted by the Finance Act, 1972 ).

(2) Section 29 of the Finance Act, 1931 , is hereby amended by the substitution of “ten thousand pounds” for “seven thousand five hundred pounds” (inserted by the Finance Act, 1972 ).

(3) Where the net value of the property, real and personal, passing on the death of the deceased, exclusive of property settled otherwise than by the will of the deceased exceeds ten thousand pounds, the amount of legacy and succession duty payable in respect of the property shall not exceed the amount by which the net value of such property, after deduction of the amount of estate duty referable thereto, exceeds ten thousand pounds.

(4) This section shall have effect only in relation to persons dying on or after the 16th day of May, 1973, and appropriate repayments shall be made accordingly.

Amendment of rates of legacy duty and succession duty.

55. —(1) Any legacy or succession duty which under the existing law is payable at the rate of five per cent. shall be payable at the rate of ten per cent. and any legacy or succession duty which under the existing law is payable at the rate of ten per cent. shall be payable at the rate of twenty per cent. on the amount or value of the legacy or succession.

(2) This section shall not take effect, in the case of legacy duty, where the testator by whose will the legacy is given or the intestate on whose death the legacy duty is payable died before the 16th day of May, 1973, and, in the case of succession duty, where the succession was conferred before that date.

Abatement of estate duty.

56. —(1) Section 45 of the Finance Act, 1969 , is hereby amended by the substitution of “£4,000” for “£2,000” (inserted by the Finance Act, 1972 ) and “£2,000” for “£1,000” (inserted by the said Finance Act, 1972 ) in each place where they respectively occur in subsections (2), (3), (4) and (5).

(2) This section shall have effect only in relation to benefits (within the meaning of the said section 45) accruing on or after the 16th day of May, 1973, and appropriate repayments shall be made accordingly.

Amendment of section 61 of Finance (1909-10) Act, 1910.

57. —(1) Section 61.(1) of the Finance (1909-10) Act, 1910, is hereby amended by the substitution of “£3,000” for “£2,000” (inserted by the Finance Act, 1969 ).

(2) This section shall have effect only in relation to persons dying on or after the 16th day of May, 1973, and appropriate repayments shall be made accordingly.

Amendment of section 24 of Finance Act, 1965.

58. —(1) Section 24 of the Finance Act, 1965 , is hereby amended—

(a) by the substitution in subsection (1) of the following paragraph for paragraph (d):

“(d) The aggregate value of all death benefits payable on a death shall be reduced for estate duty purposes by £7,500 or the said aggregate value, whichever is the lesser.”,

(b) by the deletion in subsection (1) (f) of the definition of “dependent child

(c) by the deletion in subsection 2 (a) of “, to or for the benefit of the widow or dependent children of the deceased”, and

(d) by the deletion in subsection 2 (b) of “, ‘dependent children’”.

(2) This section shall have effect only in relation to the death of a person dying on or after the 16th day of May, 1973, and appropriate repayments shall be made accordingly.

Relief for certain moneys payable under policies of assurance.

59. —(1) Where the property passing or deemed to pass on the death of the deceased includes policy moneys, the principal value of such policy moneys for estate duty purposes shall be reduced by £7,500 or the said principal value, whichever is the lesser.

(2) In this section—

policy moneys” means the total amount of the moneys (other than a return of premiums) payable under a policy or policies of assurance effected by the deceased on his own life and payable on his death where—

(a) the consideration for the policy was a premium payable yearly, half-yearly, quarterly or monthly for a period depending on the life of the deceased, and

(b) the total amount of the premiums paid in any period of twelve months did not exceed twenty per cent. of the moneys payable at death,

but also includes moneys payable on the death of the deceased under a policy of insurance issued subject to the condition that the benefits secured by the policy should be payable only if the death of the deceased occurred as the result of an accident.

(3) This section shall have effect only in relation to the death of a person dying domiciled in the State on or after the 16th day of May, 1973, and appropriate repayments shall be made accordingly.

Exemption from duty of certain unit trusts.

60. —(1) In this section—

securities” means securities (including debenture stock, mortgage bonds and mortgage stock and certificates of charge under the Agricultural Credit Acts, 1927 to 1972) issued, whether before or after the passing of this Act, with a condition that they be exempt from taxation when in the beneficial ownership of persons neither domiciled nor ordinarily resident in the State;

unit trust scheme” means a unit trust scheme registered in the register established by the Unit Trusts Act, 1972 , whose deed expressing the trusts of the scheme, restricts the property subject to those trusts to securities.

(2) Units (within the meaning of the said Unit Trusts Act, 1972 ) of a unit trust scheme shall be exempt from death duties in connection with the death of any person dying after the passing of this Act who was not domiciled or ordinarily resident in the State at the time of his death and section 12 (2) of the Finance Act, 1951 , section 34 (3) of the Finance Act, 1956 , and section 39 of the Finance Act, 1970 , shall apply to such units as if they were securities.

Amendment of section 33 of Finance Act, 1935.

61. —(1) Section 33 of the Finance Act, 1935 , is hereby amended by the substitution for subsection (6) of the following subsection:

“(6) In this section—

banker’ means a person who carries on banking business in the State and includes a friendly society, an industrial and provident society, a building society, the Post Office Savings Bank, a trustee savings bank, the Industrial Credit Company, Limited, the Agricultural Credit Corporation Limited, and any person with whom money is lodged or deposited;

pay’ includes transfer in the books of a banker and any dealings whatsoever with any moneys which were lodged or deposited in the name of a person who died after the time of the lodgment or deposit and any other person or persons;

current account’ means an account which is customarily operated on by means of a cheque or banker's order;

banking business’ has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Central Bank Act, 1971 ;

references to moneys lodged or deposited include references to shares of a building society, friendly society or industrial and provident society.”

(2) This section shall have effect in relation to the death of any person dying on or after the date of the passing of this Act.