The principle of graduation was very properly applied to this duty, and accordingly we obtain, through the reports of the Inland Revenue Commissioners, an exceedingly valuable record, not only of the total value of the property which is "left"—it is a suggestive term—by the deceased, but of the classification of that property in large and small estates.[15]
The Estate Duty is payable upon all estates which exceed £100 net (net, that is, after the discharge of all debts due by the deceased) and the Inland Revenue authorities undoubtedly pass under review the greater part of the property which is thus legally taxable. There must be a certain leakage, of course, for such heritages as household furniture, cash in money or notes, bearer bonds, and so forth, are sometimes divided up amongst the relatives of a departed property owner without account to the State, and it is difficult properly to assess unquoted securities, goodwills, trade stocks, furniture, etc. Moreover, large sums pass inter vivos. How much property thus escapes official observation we do not know, but it is probably a considerable amount.
PROPERTY LEFT AT DEATH IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.
NUMBERS AND VALUES OF ESTATES BROUGHT TO THE NOTICE OF THE
INLAND REVENUE COMMISSIONERS IN THE FIVE YEARS 1904-5 TO 1908-9.
Class of Estate. | 1904-5 | 1905-6 | 1906-7 | ||||||
| Number. | Value. Mill. £. | Number. | Value. Mill. £. | Number. | Value. Mill. £. | ||||
| A. Estates not Dutiable: | |||||||||
| Bankrupt Estates | 1,628 | — | 1,552 | — | 1,704 | — | |||
| Estates not exceeding £100 net | 15,931 | 0.9 | 15,462 | 0.9 | 16,039 | 0.9 | |||
| Total A | 17,559 | 0.9 | 17,014 | 0.9 | 17,743 | 0.9 | |||
| B. Estates Liable to Duty: Small Estates:— | |||||||||
| (1) Not exceeding £300 gross | 18,505 | 3.5 | 18,262 | 3.5 | 18,995 | 3.7 | |||
| (2) Between £300 and £500 gross | 8,846 | 3.6 | 8,907 | 3.6 | 9,311 | 3.7 | |||
| Net Capital Values"— | |||||||||
| Exceeding | £100 | but not over | £500 | 5,853 | 2.5 | 5,728 | 2.5 | 5,990 | 2.6 |
| " | 500 | " | 1,000 | 10,098 | 8.4 | 9,894 | 8.1 | 10,516 | 8.6 |
| " | 1,000 | " | 10,000 | 16,704 | 60.4 | 16,130 | 58.8 | 17,098 | 61.6 |
| " | 10,000 | " | 25,000 | 2,295 | 41.8 | 2,254 | 40.4 | 2,473 | 42.5 |
| " | 25,000 | " | 50,000 | 883 | 34.6 | 931 | 36.4 | 909 | 34.9 |
| " | 50,000 | " | 75,000 | 288 | 18.9 | 277 | 19.5 | 314 | 19.6 |
| " | 75,000 | " | 100,000 | 161 | 15.0 | 139 | 12.1 | 127 | 11.3 |
| " | 100,000 | " | 150,000 | 128 | 14.0 | 133 | 18.2 | 159 | 19.2 |
| " | 150,000 | " | 250,000 | 89 | 21.6 | 91 | 18.6 | 104 | 22.4 |
| " | 250,000 | " | 500,000 | 44 | 17.6 | 70 | 23.9 | 58 | 21.3 |
| " | 500,000 | " | 1,000,000 | 23 | 17.2 | 21 | 13.1 | 18 | 12.9 |
| " | 1,000,000 | " | 2,000,000 | ↑ | ↑ | ↑ | ↑ | ↑ | ↑ |
| " | 2,000,000 | " | 3,000,000 | 1 | 5.9 | 8 | 13.5 | 10 | 34.1 |
| " | 3,000,000 | ↓ | ↓ | ↓ | ↓ | ↓ | ↓ | ||
| Total B | 63,918 | 265.1 | 62,845 | 272.2 | 66,082 | 298.5 | |||
| Total Estates | 81,477 | 266.0 | 79,859 | 273.1 | 83,825 | 299.4 | |||
Class of Estate. | 1907-8 | 1908-9 | Average of 1904-5 to 1908-9 | ||||||
| Number. | Value. Mill. £. | Number. | Value. Mill. £. | Number. | Value. Mill. £. | ||||
| A. Estates not Dutiable: | |||||||||
| Bankrupt Estates | 1,663 | — | 1,802 | — | 1,670 | — | |||
| Estates not exceeding £100 net | 16,475 | 0.9 | 15,875 | 0.9 | 15,956 | 0.9 | |||
| Total A | 18,138 | 0.9 | 17,677 | 0.9 | 17,626 | 0.9 | |||
| B. Estates Liable to Duty: Small Estates:— | |||||||||
| (1) Not exceeding £300 gross | 19,340 | 3.7 | 19,481 | 3.7 | 18,917 | 3.6 | |||
| (2) Between £300 and £500 gross | 9,736 | 3.9 | 9,640 | 3.8 | 9,288 | 3.7 | |||
| Net Capital Values:— | |||||||||
| Exceeding | £100 | but not over | £500 | 6,374 | 3.0 | 6,422 | 2.9 | 6,074 | 2.7 |
| " | 500 | " | 1,000 | 10,782 | 9.1 | 10,729 | 9.1 | 10,404 | 8.6 |
| " | 1,000 | " | 10,000 | 17,356 | 65.4 | 17,266 | 64.5 | 16,910 | 62.1 |
| " | 10,000 | " | 25,000 | 2,341 | 40.3 | 2,328 | 40.4 | 2,338 | 41.0 |
| " | 25,000 | " | 50,000 | 908 | 35.5 | 918 | 34.4 | 910 | 35.1 |
| " | 50,000 | " | 75,000 | 278 | 19.8 | 297 | 19.5 | 291 | 19.4 |
| " | 75,000 | " | 100,000 | 144 | 14.0 | 155 | 13.9 | 145 | 13.2 |
| " | 100,000 | " | 150,000 | 109 | 16.4 | 136 | 16.8 | 133 | 16.9 |
| " | 150,000 | " | 250,000 | 90 | 18.7 | 78 | 17.3 | 90 | 19.7 |
| " | 250,000 | " | 500,000 | 51 | 20.1 | 50 | 20.1 | 54 | 20.6 |
| " | 500,000 | " | 1,000,000 | 17 | 16.6 | 15 | 8.3 | 19 | 13.6 |
| " | 1,000,000 | " | 2,000,000 | 4 | 4.6 | 6 | 9.2 | ↑ | ↑ |
| " | 2,000,000 | " | 3,000,000 | 1 | 2.6 | 1 | 2.2 | 7 | 18.1 |
| " | 3,000,000 | 2 | 8.6 | 2 | 5.0 | ↓ | ↓ | ||
| Total B | 67,533 | 282.3 | 67,524 | 270.9 | 65,580 | 278.3 | |||
| Total Estates | 85,671 | 283.2 | 85,201 | 271.8 | 83,206 | 279.2 | |||
Before setting out particulars of the numbers and values of the estates revealed through the operation of the Estate Duty, it will be well to remind the reader of the number of deaths per annum in the United Kingdom. In the years 1899 to 1903, the figures were as follows:—
DEATHS IN UNITED KINGDOM