57Relief from death duties on land subsequently acquired by government departments, local authorities, etc..
(1)The following provisions of this section shall have effect where an interest in land—
(a)is compulsorily acquired by a government department or a local or public authority within the meaning of the [9 & 10 Geo. 5. c. 57.] Acquisition of Land (Assessment of Compensation) Act, 1919; or
(b)is acquired by agreement by such a government department or local or public authority as aforesaid, being a department or authority who, when the agreement is made, are authorised by, or are or can be authorised under, any enactment to acquire that interest in land compulsorily,
and, in either case, the date of acquisition falls within the period of five years from the seventeenth day of November, nineteen hundred and forty-four.
(2)If it is proved to the satisfaction of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue—
(a)that estate duty has been paid, or is payable, in respect of the whole of the interest, and that that interest was valued for the purposes of that duty as at a date after the thirty-first day of March, nineteen hundred and thirty-nine, and before the date of acquisition; and
(b)that the persons to whom the interest passed beneficially on the death on which the duty was payable were the same persons as were beneficially interested therein at the date of acquisition, and the beneficial interests which they respectively took on the death were the same beneficial interests as they respectively had at the date of acquisition; and
(c)that the interest was the same in all respects and with the same incidents at the date of acquisition and at all dates relevant for the purpose of ascertaining the duty; and
(d)that the land in which the interest subsisted was in the same state and with the same incidents and held with the same land at the date of acquisition and at all dates relevant for the purpose of ascertaining the duty; and
(e)that the duty fell or falls to be wholly borne by the persons who were beneficially interested at the date of the acquisition according to the respective interests which they then had; and
(f)that the acquisition did not operate to sever the land from land with which it was held at any of the dates relevant for the purpose of ascertaining the duty,
the amount of duty payable in respect of the interest shall, where necessary, be reduced by repayment or remission of duty so as not to exceed the amount which would have been payable in respect thereof if the principal value of the interest had been equal to the amount of the compensation or price payable for the purchase thereof, including, in the case of compensation, any supplement thereto under section fifty-eight or section fifty-nine of the [7 & 8 Geo. 6. c. 47.] Town and Country Planning Act, 1944, or any corresponding enactment relating to Scotland.
(3)Where the Commissioners are satisfied that the provisions of the last preceding subsection would have had effect but for all or any of the following facts, that is to say—
(a)that the requirement in paragraph (a) thereof is not fulfilled in that the duty was paid or payable on part of the interest only; or
(b)that one or more of the requirements respectively specified in paragraphs (b) to (e) thereof are only partly fulfilled; or
(c)that the requirement in paragraph (f) thereof is not fulfilled,
they may grant to any of the persons paying or bearing any of the duty such relief by repayment or remission of duty as may seem to them just and reasonable.
(4)The two last preceding subsections shall have effect in relation to any legacy or succession duty becoming payable on the principal value of the interest as they have effect in relation to estate duty, subject, however, to the modification that for the references to the death there shall be substituted references to the happening of any event or the expiry of any period upon which the legacy or succession duty became or becomes payable.
(5)An interest which is limited to expire, or is subject to an interest which is limited to expire, shall not be treated for the purposes of this section as being the same in all respects at different dates.
(6)In this section, the expression " the date of acquisition " means—
(a)in the case of a compulsory acquisition, the date of the service of the notice to treat; and
(b)in the case of an acquisition by agreement, the date of the making of the agreement,
and the reference in this subsection to the service of the notice to treat shall be taken to include a reference to the constructive service of such a notice which, by virtue of the Sixth Schedule to the Town and Country Planning Act, 1944, or by virtue of any other enactment, is to be deemed to be served.