Finance Act 1921

63 Provision for cases where documents relating to death duties have been lost, destroyed, or damaged

(1) Where any document in the custody of the Commissioners relating to duty charged or chargeable in respect of any property has been lost or destroyed, or has been so defaced or damaged as to be illegible or otherwise useless, the Commissioners may require any person appearing to them to be accountable or to have accounted for that duty, to furnish to them to the best of his ability such information, particulars and evidence, including evidence by affidavit, as they may require for replacing that document, and any person so appearing to be accountable shall be liable to discharge all claims in respect of that duty, unless he proves to the satisfaction of the Commissioners that those claims have already been discharged or that he is not accountable for the duty.

(2) The Commissioners shall have all such powers for the purpose of enforcing any requirement made by them under this section as they had for the purpose of enforcing the delivery of the document which is to be replaced, and all statutory provisions in that behalf, including provisions as to penalties, shall apply accordingly with the necessary modifications.

(3) The Commissioners shall pay to any person complying with any requirement under this section his reasonable cost of so doing, and, if any question arises as to the amount so to be paid as costs, the question shall be referred to and determined by a taxing master of the High Court, or in Scotland by the auditor of the Court of Session.

(4) Where the Commissioners are required by any person to issue any document certifying that any duty has been paid or is not payable, or to make any allowance in respect of any duty paid, or to do any act or thing consequent on the payment of duty, they may, where the evidence of the payment of or of non-liability to duty has been destroyed, refuse, notwithstanding any enactment to the contrary, to comply with the requirement except on proof to their satisfaction that the duty has been paid or is not payable, or that the act or thing required to be done is in the circumstances reasonably necessary, as the case may be.

(5) Where the Commissioners declare that by reason of the loss, destruction, defacement, or damage of any document they are unable to certify that there is no claim for duty in respect of any property, a court may, in any proceedings relating to that property, notwithstanding any enactment to the contrary, dispose of that property or the proceeds of sale thereof without making provision for the payment of any duty chargeable in respect thereof;

Provided that nothing in the foregoing provision shall affect any right of the Commissioners as against any person accountable for any duty so chargeable, not being a purchaser for value without notice that there is a claim for duty in respect thereof.

(6) In this section, unless the context otherwise requires—

• The expression " document " includes affidavit, account, and record;

• The expression " Commissioners " means the Commissioners of Inland Revenue;

• The expression " duty " means any death duty.