ESTATE DUTY CHANGES

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28984, 27 August 1959, Page 14

ESTATE DUTY CHANGES

Bill Introduced In House

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, August 26.

An Estate and Gift Duties Amendment Bill which gives effect to appropriate Budget provisions was introduced and read a first time in the House of Representatives today.

The bill provides that .exemption from estate duty shall extend to approved superannuation schemes for the self-employed. It repeals the special provisions for exemption that have hitherto applied to certain superannuation schemes, including those under the National Provident Fund Act, 1950, and makes provision for one rule in all cases. A limit of £5OO a year is imposed on superannuation benefits in respect of which a widow is entitled to exemption from estate duty. The amount is increased for which a widow can claim exemption in her husband’s estate, and extends the scope for her exemption, and of the exemptions of widowers and children. Where the value of the estate does not exceed £7500 the value of the widow’s succession will not attract estate duty. Where the value of the estate does not exceed £30,000, the duty on the widow's succession up to the value of £7500 will be remitted. Thereafter, the concession will be tapered off. £1 in £4. as the value of the estate exceeds £30.000 so that it disappears when the estate is £60,000 in value. A modification to remove an anomaly is made to a section in the principal act which brings into the dutiable estate of a deceased person, 'property comprised in a disposition which was made by him. and under which he retained an interest during his lifetime. A new clause provides that in calculating the value of the property for estate duty purposes. there shall be deducted <a) The value of any improvements made to the property after the date of the disposition. other than by, or at the expense, of the deceased: 'b) The amount of any consideration paid in the lifetime of the deceased, plus interest at 5 per cent., and for this

purpose the payment of a life annuity or other life benefits is a consideration to the extent to which the aggregate payments exceed the ’ggregate income of the property. (c) The value of any consideration payable to the deceased or in satisfaction of a debt of the deceased.