Finance (1909-10) Act, 1910

Extension of relief from income tax under Schedule A.

69.(1) If the owner of any land or houses to which this section applies shows that the cost to him of maintenance, repairs, insurance, and management, according to the average of the preceding five years, has exceeded, in the case of land, one-eighth part of the annual value of the land as adopted for the purpose of income tax under Schedule A, and in the case of houses one-sixth part of that value, he shall be entitled, in addition to any reduction of the assessment under section thirty-five of the Finance Act, 1894, on making a claim for the purpose, to repayment of the amount of the duty on the excess, not exceeding in the case of land one-eighth part, and in the case of houses one-twelfth part, of the duty on an amount equal to the annual value.

For the purposes of this section the term “maintenance” shall include the replacement of farm-houses, farm buildings, cottages, fences, and other works where the replacement is necessary to maintain the existing rent.

(2) This section shall apply to any land (inclusive of farm-houses and other buildings, if any) the assessment on which is, for the purpose of collection, reduced under section thirty-five of the Finance Act, 1894, and to any houses the annual value of which, as adopted for the purpose of income tax under Schedule A, does not exceed eight pounds, the assessment on which is so reduced.

(3) In comparing the cost of maintenance, repairs, insurance, and management of any land or houses for the purpose of this section with the annual value of the land or houses, the total cost of the maintenance, repairs, insurance, and management on any land managed as one estate, or of any houses on any such land, shall be compared with the total annual value of the land or houses as the case may be.

(4) All the provisions of the Income Tax Acts which relate to claims for exemption, relief, or abatement, or the proof to be given with respect to those claims, shall apply to claims for repayment under this section and the proof to be given with respect to those claims:

Provided that if the owner of any land or house makes and delivers to the surveyor of taxes of any district in which the land or house is wholly or partly situate a declaration as to the cost to him of maintenance, repairs, insurance, and management, and the surveyor is satisfied as to the correctness of the declaration, the amount of the allowance to which the owner is entitled under this section shall be certified by the surveyor, and repayment shall thereupon be made in accordance with his certificate.

(5) In computing the five-year average for the purposes of this section, the year shall be taken to be the year ending on the thirty-first day of March, or such other date as may be adopted by the owner of the land or houses with the consent of the surveyor of taxes of the district, and the five preceding years shall be taken to be those preceding the commencement of the year for which the duty in respect of which a claim for repayment is made is charged.