The Gazette 1909-10

DECEMBER, 1909] The Gazette of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland.

53

purchaser, as I understand it, you will be unable to complete that purchase until the increment duty is cleared—that is, was paid if it is payable, or if it was agricultural land and held as such, to be exempted, you would have to get a certificate to that effect. But you could not get that until the land is valued by the Government Department, and you know how many years it will take to get all the land valued in Ireland. But, apart from the delay and the loss of carrying tlrrough such transactions, you find all land in Ireland is to be valued, including agricultural land. We have been told that agricultural land will be free from increment duty, but this is not clear at all from the Bill—it does not say so. What it says is that if it can be shown that agricultural land is of no greater value, no higher value than its value for agricultural purposes, in that case only it is exempt. But the onus of showing it comes within that exemption will rest upon the owner, and if agricultural land is being used, say, for a stud farm, then it becomes liable to increment duty, and no abatement on that duty will be made in respect of the portion of the value which represents the agricultural interests in that holding—it will be liable as if it had no agricultural value, for the entire duty. Of course, also, if it is near a town, or, I fancy, for any reason that an increased price was given for agricultural land, I think that increment duty would be payable in respect of it. And we were also told that the Govern ment will pay the expense of making this valuation ; but I think you have heard of the British Treasury, and I think you know something of it, and can you conceive that the British Treasury would go to the expense of making that valuation without getting any revenue in return ? I cannot. Besides this in crement duty which would be charged upon what we always popularly knew as agricul tural land, when this valuation is completed, and the site value and the total valuation of the land ascertained under the provisions of this or any similar Bill all Imperial taxes will be levied in respect of that land on that valuation. Income tax in the future will be levied on that valuation, and not on the old Poor Law Valuation. You know that at present the Commissioners of Valuation has no power to alter the valuation on land, but

Chancellor of the Exchequer. On the 1st of October the Chancellor of the Exchequer brought-up an amendment to that provision. The amendments that he then brought up are now embodied in Clause 61 of the Bill. Under this amendment the old basis of valuation is to remain unaltered in all yearly tenancies, but the tenant purchasers get no relief from the change, save in cases where the gross assets do not exceed £500. Of course it is clear that this amendment was to a great extent a relief from that provision, but it has not gone far enough, for the effect of the Bill as it now stands with that amendment would be that all tenant purchasers whose gross assets, including their holdings after deduct ing the amount due to the Land Commission in respect of the annuity, exceeded £500, will not get any relief under that amendment in Clause 61, and they will be obliged to pay not only the increased Death Duties set out in the Schedule to the Bill, but those increased duties on the holdings which, before such provision became law, would not have been liable to contribute anything in the way of duty, or if anything, something very small. That is one matter I would like to call atten tion to, because, as I say, it was a provision . which no ordinary person reading the Bill could understand (hear, hear), and that provision the Council, as I said, call special attention to in their resolution of the 28th July, and subsequent to the circulation of that resolution the amendment was made (applause). There is another matter which I would like to refer to in this Bill. It may never pass. It does not really require a prophet to state that it will probably be rejected on the present occasion ; but what has once been brought before the House of Commons and passed may come before it again, and I think the members of our profession ought to direct special public attention, so far as we can, to those pro visions which, as I have already stated, are not clear to any ordinary person who may refer to the Bill. The other point referred to is the question of the re-valuation of all the land in Ireland and, .of course, in the United Kingdom. While that valuation is going on sales must to a great extent be tied up; and this affects each member of our profession, because if you are acting for a