DEATH DUTY

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 55, 27 November 1937, Page 3

DEATH DUTY

-Press Association.)

Cronvn Leasehold Estates

(By Telegraph-

! DANNEVIRKE, Last Night. At yesterday's meeting of the Southern. Hawke's Bay Provincial Executive of the Farmers ' Union a reply was received from the Minister of Finance regarding the following remit from the Dominion executive:— "That this Dominion conference of the New Zealand Farmers' Union calls for the immediate remedy of the present position in regard to death duties on estateswhich comprise Crown leaseholds. While land boards may and do, arbitrarily restrict tenan'ts from realising the full value 'of the goodwill of their eases while alive, probably officials insistupon death that the full value of such goodwill bo assessed for the payment of death duties, thus heaviiy penalising surviving dependents." The Minister 's reply stated: "I have made full inquiries wiEh regaTd to the procedure at present being adopted and I find that, upon the death of the occupier of Crown leasehold land, the value of his interest, as determined by the Valucr-Gcncral, is the value upon which death duty is calculated. It is not tho practice of the Stamp Duties Department to include an amount for the goodwill over and above the vaiue ascertained by tho Vqluer-General. The proeedure adopted by the Lands Department in considering applications for transfer of Crown leasehold is in line with that adopted by the Stamp Duties Department. The whole purpose of requiring the consent of tho landlord ia to avoid any serious discrepancy between tho consideration being paid for the transfer and the real value of the 'transferor 's interest. As a guide in ascertaining the real value, the valuation of the Yaluer-General is invariably pgnsultgda'4 "