asked the Minister for Finance what effects recent Finance Acts have had on the Married Women's Property Act and on all other legislation affecting death duties and estate duties whether the married woman or her spouse was the deceased.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Married Women's Status Act.
35.
The Deputy presumably has in mind the Married Women's Status Act, 1957, which repealed and replaced the Married Women's Property Acts. No Finance Act has repealed or amended any provision of that Act.
Section 25 of the Finance Act, 1965, did, however, affect the aggregation, for estate duty purposes, of policies taken out by a person for the benefit of his or her spouse or children under the provisions of section 7 of the Married Women's Status Act, 1957 or under the earlier Married Women's Property Acts. Previously such policies might have been treated as not aggregable for the purpose of determining the rate of estate duty. Since the Act of 1965 all such policies are aggregable.
However, section 26 of the Finance Act, 1965, introduced a relief in respect of all forms of policy of assurance on the life of the deceased; the amount liable to duty on the death of the assured may, under the provisions of the section, be considerably less than the proceeds of the policy.
In addition, section 29 of the same Act, as amended by subsequent Finance Acts, provides an abatement of £1,000 in respect of a widow together with an abatement of £500 in respect of each dependent child where the estate does not exceed £100,000.
Finally, section 30 of the Finance Act, 1965, abolished all charges for legacy duty or succession duty on property derived from the deceased as predecessor and which passes to his or her spouse, lineal descendant or lineal ancestor.
I am not clear to what other legislation the Deputy may be alluding.
Are statistics kept in such a way that the Minister can say how much additional duty has been collected as a result of the change?
I doubt if they are and any extra duty coming in would be offset to a considerable extent by the concessions made.
Has the Minister considered the hardship as a result of the change in 1965, even with the modification?
Yes, and we made a change in last year's Finance Act.
But even with that modification?
I am not aware of any particular case of hardship at the moment but, if any manifest themselves, in my usual manner I will consider them sympathetically.