ESTATE DUTY (AMENDMENT) BILL

Order for Second Reading read. 6.25 pm

The Minister for Finance and Minister for Trade and Industry (Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

The purpose of this Bill is to give legislative effect to the estate duty concessions that were announced in the 1984 Budget Statement. Specifically, it seeks to give effect to the following estate duty reliefs in respect of persons dying on or after 1st April 1984:

(1) The exemption limit for residential properties will be raised to $3 million irrespective of the number of such properties owned by the deceased.

(2) There will only be two rates of duty. The first $10 million of the value of the estate chargeable to duty will be taxed at 5% and the remainder at 10%. This two-tier rate of duty replaces the existing complicated system of remission and taxation with tax rates ranging from 5% to 60%.

(3) The maximum exemption given for assets other than those which qualify for exemption as residential properties but including Central Provident Fund (CPF) balances will be increased from $100,000 to $500,000. The full CPF balance continues to qualify for exemption.

Clause 4 of the Bill makes a minor amendment to section 1OA(l)(h) of the Act to reflect the change in name of the Gold Exchange of Singapore to the Singapore International Monetary Exchange (SIMEX). The exemption will now apply to deposits and balances of non-residents with members of SIMEX in respect of transactions in gold, Yen, Deutschemark and Eurodollar interest rate.

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. - [Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam).

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