I move the following resolution:—
(1) That sub-section (1) of Section 2 of the Finance Act, 1894, shall, in the case of a person dying on or after the 1st day of April, 1924, be read as if there were added after paragraph (d) thereof, the following paragraph:—
"(e) Any personal or movable property situate out of Saorstát Eireann taken as a Donatio mortis causa made by any person dying domiciled in Saorstát Eireann, or taken under a disposition made by any person dying domiciled in Saorstát Eireann and purporting to operate as an immediate gift, inter vivos, whether by way of transfer, delivery, declaration of trust, or otherwise, which shall not have been bona fide made at least three years before the death of the deceased, and any personal or movable property situate out of Saorstát Eireann taken under any gift, whenever made, by any person dying domiciled in Saorstát Eireann, of which bona fide possession and enjoyment shall not have been assumed by the donee immediately upon the gift and thenceforward retained to the retire exclusion of the donor or of any benefit to him by contract or otherwise.”
(2) That in the case of property passing on the death of a person dying on or after the 1st day of April, 1924, sub-section (2) of Section 2 of the Finance Act, 1894, shall be read as if there were added thereto the words "or but for the provisions of "Section 38 of the Stamp Duties "(Ireland) Act, 1842, or of Section "18 of the Succession Duty Act, "1853."
At present, as the law stands, if a person domiciled in Saorstát Eireann within three years of his death, makes a gift of personal or movable property situated in Saorstát Eireann, it is taken into account for the purpose of calculating death duties. If, however, the personal or movable property is situated outside Saorstát Eireann, it is not included for the purpose of death duties. That means that if a man has, say, Guinness's shares, Guinness being a British company registered in London, and he makes a gift of those shares within three years before his death, the amount is not counted for the purpose of calculating death duties. If, on the other hand, he makes a gift of, say, Great Northern Railway shares, the Great Northern Railway Company being a Saorstát company registered here, that is counted for the purpose of calculating death duties. A distinct anomaly exists there. This change in the law that is proposed, for all practical purposes, will have the effect of making the law in practice the same as it was before the setting up of the Saorstát. There might be a question of property which was situated outside the late United Kingdom, and there will be a change in respect of that, but that is a much smaller amount than the property which is situated in Great Britain or Northern Ireland. There is really no reason why an anomaly should exist such as this, that Great Northern Railway shares should be counted for the purpose of death duties and that Guinness's shares should not be counted. I think it is right it should be removed.