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28 1935

FINANCE ACT, 1935

PART III.

Death Duties.

Assessment of personal representatives of persons liable to death duty.

30. —(1) Where a person, liable to deliver an account of property for the purpose of the assessment of estate duty, or of legacy duty, or of succession duty, in respect of such property, dies without having delivered such account, it shall be lawful for the Revenue Commissioners, acting by any of such Commissioners or by any of their officers, to make an assessment of the said duty payable in respect of such property to the best of their knowledge, information, and belief.

(2) Whenever any such assessment as is mentioned in the next preceding sub-section of this section is made in accordance with that sub-section, the Revenue Commissioners shall send or cause to be sent a duplicate of such assessment to the executor or the administrator of the person who was liable while living to deliver the account mentioned in the said sub-section, and the like appeal against such assessment shall lie at the suit of such executor or administrator or of any person aggrieved by such assessment as would have lain against such assessment if it had been made on an account delivered by an accountable party.

(3) The duty assessed by an assessment made as aforesaid shall be recoverable from the said executor or administrator in the same manner and by the like proceedings as such duty, if it had been assessed on an account delivered by an accountable party, would have been recoverable, but such executor or administrator shall not be liable for such duty to an amount in excess of the assets of the person of whom he is executor or administrator which such executor or administrator has received or might, but for his own neglect or default, have received.

(4) No executor or administrator who has, before the date of the passing of this Act, fully administered the estate and distributed the assets of the person of whom he is executor or administrator shall be charged with or assessed to duty by virtue of this section.

Assessment of duty on failure to deliver an account.

31. —(1) Where a person, liable to deliver an account of property for the purpose of the assessment of estate duty, or of legacy duty, or of succession duty, fails to deliver such account to the Revenue Commissioners, it shall be lawful for the Revenue Commissioners, acting by any of such Commissioners or by any of their officers, to make an assessment of the said duty payable in respect of such property to the best of their knowledge, information, and belief.

(2) Whenever any such assessment as is mentioned in the next preceding sub-section of this section is made in accordance with that sub-section, the Revenue Commissioners shall—

(a) if the place of residence of the person liable to deliver the account mentioned in the said sub-section is known to the Revenue Commissioners, send or cause to be sent by registered post addressed to such person at his said place of residence a duplicate of such assessment, or

(b) if such place of residence is not known to the Revenue Commissioners, publish in the Iris Oifigiúil a notice of the making of such assessment, with such particulars thereof as the Revenue Commissioners shall think proper.

(3) Whenever any such assessment as is mentioned in the first sub-section of this section is made in accordance with that sub-section, the person liable to deliver the account mentioned in the said sub-section or any person aggrieved by such assessment shall have the like right of appeal against such assessment as he would have had if such assessment had been made on an account delivered by an accountable party, save that, where notice of such assessment is required by this section to be published in the Iris Oifigiúil, the time limited by law for such appeal shall run from the date of such publication of such notice.

(4) The duty assessed by an assessment made under this section shall be recoverable in the same manner and by the like proceedings as such duty, if it had been assessed on an account delivered by an accountable party, would have been recoverable.

Death duty in case of certain property previously subject to an annuity, etc.

32. —In the case of a person dying after the passing of this Act, property which was previously subject to an annuity or other periodical payment limited to cease on the death of such deceased person shall, notwithstanding that such annuity or other periodical payment had been surrendered, assured, divested, or otherwise disposed of (whether for value or otherwise) in the lifetime of such deceased person to or for the benefit of the person entitled to such property, be deemed for the purposes of Part I of the Finance Act, 1894, to pass on the death of such deceased person to the extent of the benefit which would accrue from the cesser of such annuity or other periodical payment unless—

(a) such surrender, assurance, divesting, or disposition was bona fide made or effected at least three years before the death of such deceased person, and

(b) such deceased person was not, at any time within three years before his death, in receipt of any substituted annuity or other periodical payment limited to cease on his death and secured (whether by contract or otherwise) to him in return for such surrender, assurance, divesting, or disposition.

Payment of money standing in names of two or more persons.

33. —(1) Where, either before or after the passing of this Act, a sum of money exceeding one hundred pounds is lodged or deposited (otherwise than on a current account) in Saorstát Eireann with a banker in the joint names of two or more persons, and one of such persons (in this section referred to as the deceased) dies after the passing of this Act, such banker shall not pay such money or any part thereof to the survivor or all or any of the survivors of such person or to any other person unless or until there is furnished to such banker a certificate by the Revenue Commissioners (acting by any of such Commissioners or by any of their officers) certifying that there is no outstanding claim for duty in connection with the death of the deceased in respect of such money or any part thereof.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (7) of section 6 of the Finance Act, 1894, duty leviable and payable on the death of the deceased shall be deemed for the purposes of this section to become due on the day of the death of the deceased.

(3) Every banker who shall pay any money in contravention of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to an excise penalty of five hundred pounds.

(4) Where a banker is charged with an offence under this section, the onus of proving that such certificate as is mentioned in this section was furnished to such banker before he made the payment which is alleged to constitute such offence shall lie on such banker.

(5) Where a banker is charged with an offence under this section, it shall be a good defence to such charge to prove that, at the time when such banker made the payment of money which is alleged to constitute such offence, he had reasonable ground for believing that none of the persons in whose joint names such money was lodged or deposited with him was dead.

(6) In this section—

the word “banker” means a person who carries on in Saorstát Eireann the business of banking;

the word “pay” includes transfer in the books of a banker;

the expression “current account” means an account which is customarily operated upon by means of cheque or banker's order.