Finance Act, 1942

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PART III.

Death Duties.

Relief from certain death duties on deaths caused by foreign armed forces.

9.—(1) This section applies only to injuries to the person (whether occurring before or after the passing of this Act) which are shown, to the satisfaction of the Revenue Commissioners, to comply with all the following conditions, that is to say:—

(a) the injury occurred after the 3rd day of September, 1939, and before the termination of the present emergency, and

(b) the State was not engaged in any war when the injury occurred, and

(c) the injury occurred within the State or the territorial waters thereof, and

(d) the injury was caused, directly or indirectly by an act of the armed forces of another country, whether such act was intentional or accidental and whether such act was itself done within or outside the State or the territorial waters thereof or the superincumbent atmosphere.

(2) This section applies only to death duties (as defined in section 13 of the Finance Act, 1894, for the purposes of that section) leviable in respect of property passing on a death to any of the following persons, that is to say:—

(a) the wife or the husband of the deceased,

(b) lineal ancestors or descendants of the deceased.

(c) brothers and sisters of the deceased,

(d) descendants of brothers and sisters of the deceased.

(3) Whenever it is shown to the satisfaction of the Revenue Commissioners that a person has died (whether before or after the passing of this Act) solely from an injury to which this section applies received by him not more than twelve months before his death, the Revenue Commissioners shall remit or, in the case of duty already paid, repay in respect of the death duties to which this section applies leviable on the death of such person the amount specified in whichever of the following paragraphs is applicable, that is to say:—

(a) where the value for the purposes of estate duty of the property in respect of which the said death duties are leviable does not exceed five thousand pounds, the whole of those death duties, or

(b) where the value for the purposes of estate duty of the property in respect of which the said death duties are leviable exceeds five thousand pounds—

(i) the whole of the said death duties in so far as they are leviable in respect of the first five thousand pounds of the said value, and

(ii) so much of the remainder of the said death duties as exceeds the sum which, if accumulated at compound interest at the rate of three per cent, per annum (with half-yearly rests) from the date of the death of the said deceased person would, at the expiration of the period of the normal expectation of life of a person of the age of the said deceased person at the time of his death (calculated in accordance with the tables of mortality known as “the Tables of Mortality of Government Life Annuitants, 1912”) amount to a sum equal to the said remainder of the said death duties.

(4) Where, on any death, the relief given by the next preceding sub-section of this section in respect of death duties to which this section applies is less than the remission or repayment of the whole of those death duties, the said relief shall be apportioned amongst, the several persons liable to bear those death duties rateably in proportion to the sums which, but for the said relief, they would respectively be liable to bear in respect of the said death duties.

(5) Where relief is required by the foregoing provisions of this section to be given in respect of death duties to which this section applies leviable on a death, the following provisions shall apply and have effect, that is to say:—

(a) if that relief, in so far as it relates to estate duty, is less beneficial to the persons entitled thereto under the said foregoing provisions than the relief in respect of estate duty on the said death which would be afforded to those persons by section 15 of the Finance Act, 1914 , relief in respect of the said estate duty shall be given to the said persons under the said section 15 and not under this section;

(b) subject to the provisions of the foregoing paragraph of this sub-section, the relief in respect of estate duty afforded by the said section 15 shall not be given in any case in which relief in respect of estate duty is given under the foregoing provisions of this section.

(6) The relief given by sub-section (3) of this section in relation to any particular death shall, in so far as it relates to estate duty, be in substitution for, and not in addition to, any relief afforded in relation to that death by section 26 of the Finance Act, 1940 (No. 14 of 1940), or by any section (other than this section) of this Part of this Act,

(7) Where—

(a) relief has been given under the foregoing provisions of this section in respect of estate duty chargeable in respect of any property passing on a death (in this sub-section referred to as the earlier death), and

(b) estate duty becomes chargeable in respect of the said property or any part thereof passing on a death (in this sub-section referred to as the later death) occurring after the earlier death, and

(c) it is shown to the satisfaction of the Revenue Commissioners that the later death is the death of a person to whom the said property or some part thereof passed on the earlier death, and

(d) it is also shown to the satisfaction aforesaid that the later death occurred solely from an injury to which this section applies received not more than twelve months before such death,

then and in such case, notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing provisions of this section, the whole of the death duties (as defined in section 13 of the Finance Act, 1894, for the purposes of that section) leviable on the later death in respect of so much (whether the whole or a part) of the said property as passes on that death shall be remitted or, in the case of duty already paid, be repaid, and so much as aforesaid of the said property shall not be aggregated with any other property passing on the later death for the purpose of determining the rate at which estate duty is chargeable on that death.