Finance (1909-10) Act 1910

4 Collection and recovery of duty in cases of transfers and leases.

(1) On any transfer on sale of the fee simple of any land or of any interest in land, or on the grant of any lease of any land for a term exceeding fourteen years, increment value duty shall be assessed by the Commissioners and paid by the transferor or lessor, as the case may be.

(2) It shall be the duty of the transferor or lessor, on the occasion of any transfer on sale of the fee simple of any land or of any interest in land or on the grant of any lease of any land for a term exceeding fourteen years, to present to the Commissioners, in accordance with regulations made by them, the instrument by means of which the transfer or the lease is effected or agreed to be effected or reasonable particulars thereof for the purpose of the assessment of duty thereon, and, if the transferor or lessor fails to comply with this provision, he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding ten pounds, and to pay interest at the rate of five per cent. per annum on any duty ultimately payable by him as from the date on which the instrument has been executed, but any person aggrieved by any conviction or order of a court of summary jurisdiction under this provision may appeal therefrom to a court of quarter sessions.

(3) Any such instrument shall not, for the purposes of section fourteen of the [54 & 55 Vict. c. 39.] Stamp Act, 1891, and notwithstanding anything in section twelve of that Act, be deemed to be duly stamped unless it is stamped—

(a) either with a stamp denoting that the increment value duty has been assessed by the Commissioners and paid in accordance with the assessment; or

(b) with a stamp denoting that all particulars have been delivered to the Commissioners, which, in their opinion, are necessary for the purpose of enabling them to assess the duty, and that security has been given for the payment of duty in any case where the Commissioners have required security; or

(c) with a stamp denoting that upon the occasion in question no increment value duty was payable;

but where an instrument is so stamped, it shall, notwithstanding any objection" relating to the increment value duty, be deemed to be duly stamped so far as respects that duty.

(4) Any duty assessed by the Commissioners under this -section shall be a debt due to the Crown from the transferor or lessor, as the case may be, and for the purpose of calculating the amount of increment value duty to be collected on any subsequent occasion shall be deemed to have been paid.

(5) Regulations may be made by the Commissioners with respect to the mode in which any instrument is to" be presented to them in order to be dealt with under this section, and for dispensing with the presentation of any instrument, or particulars thereof, in cases where arrangements are made for obtaining those particulars through any registry of lands, deeds, or title, or through a Register of Sasines, and with respect to the modern which any application for a return of duty under this section is to be made, and for the payment of any increment value duty by instalments in the case of any lease or transfer on sale where the consideration is in the form of a periodical payment; and the Commissioners shall deal with any instrument presented to them and allow payment by instalments in accordance with those regulations. The regulations shall provide that where the duty to be collected on the grant of a lease is payable by instalments, and the lease is determined before all such instalments have fallen due, the instalments which have not fallen due shall be. remitted, and that in that case the amount of duty which, under this section, is deemed to have been paid shall be reduced by the amount of the instalments so remitted:

(6) In any case where increment value duty shall have been paid under the provisions of this section, but the transaction in respect of which the duty shall have been paid was subsequently not carried, into execution, the duty shall be returned to the transferor or lessor on his making application to the Commissioners within two years after the payment of the duty in accordance with regulations to be made by them under this section, and in that case the duty returned shall not be deemed to have been paid for the purposes of this section.

(7) Where any agreement for a transfer or agreement for a lease is stamped in accordance with this section, it shall not be .necessary to stamp any conveyance, assignment, or lease made subsequently to and in conformity with the agreement, but the Commissioners shall, if an application is made to them for the purpose, denote on the conveyance, assignment, or lease the amount of duty paid.