A HOLE PATCHED
RETROSPECTIVE CLAUSE A technical amendment of the Death Duties Act which is included in the Finance Bill now before the House of Representatives has an interesting origin. The Minister of Finance (Mr. Nash) stated in the House of Representatives yesterday that it repealed a sub-clause in the original Act, and was-made retrospective to January 1, 1942. -■-■• The original legislation was passed as the result of difficulties during the slump after jthe last war, and provided that debts which were forgivea' could not be subjected to gift duty.; Some clever lawyer found out that this could apply to a company, as a company could not be said to be re-; lated to any person by ties of blood? or marriage; therefore if it made a gift under those conditions it was not liable to gift duty. Some people were, of opinion that if a lawyer lound a hole in an Act and got through it, the job of the Government was to let him, get away with it and then fill up the'i hole. "I don't agree with that," con-) tinued Mr. Nash. "I instructed the; Commissioner of Stamps to say that! we would not agree to an amendment of the Act to be used in that way, and' to make sure that it would not be] used in the future, we are making this amendment which is retrospective! to 1942." Criticising this clause later, Mr. R. M. Algie (National, Remuera) saidJ that before lie came into the House he had often heard the Minister of : Finance referred to as a dictator, and if the Minister was going to say what he would allow and would not allow, citizens to do he was getting very, close to that reputation. A citizen was fully entitled to take advantage of the law as he found it if he kept within the law. When he did a thing within/ the law it "was not British justice to go back over the acts of citizens and1 render them illegal retrospectively. He; described the clause as having been introduced to suit the whim of a; Minister of Finance who spoke like a' dictator. ______________ rj
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Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 24, 28 July 1944, Page 3
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361A HOLE PATCHED Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 24, 28 July 1944, Page 3
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