ESTATE DUTY (AMENDMENT) BILL

Order for Second Reading read. 3.48 p.m.

The Minister for Finance (Mr Hon Sui Sen): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

The purpose of this Estate Duty (Amendment) Bill is to bring into effect the estate duty concessions which were announced in the 1982 Budget Statement.

Clause 2 of the Bill amends section 10A of the Estate Duty Act so as to exempt from estate duty gold deposits held by foreigners with approved banks and approved members of a gold exchange in Singapore. To qualify for this exemption, the foreigner must be at the time of his death neither domiciled nor resident in Singapore.

Clause 3 amends section 10C of the Act to raise the exemption limit on estate duty for dwelling houses from $600,000 to the full value of any one dwelling house owned by the deceased where its value exceeds $600,000. It also provides for all statutory contributions to the Central Provident Fund and designated pension or provident fund to be exempt from estate duty. If such contributions exceed $100,000, no further relief from estate duty is given for other assets except dwelling houses. But if the contributions do not exceed $100,000, the exemption limit of $100,000 for assets other than dwelling houses will apply to all such assets, including pension and provident fund contributions.

The concessions legislated in this Bill are applicable to estates of persons dying on or after 1st April, 1982.

Sir, I beg to move.

Question put, and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House.

The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. - [Mr Hon Sui Sen].

Bill considered in Committee.

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

Clause 1 -

The Chairman: The citation year will be altered from "1982" to "1983".

Clause 1 ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clauses 2 and 3 ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Bill reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed.