96 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND - MISCEIvLANEOUS 



It is payable by the owner at the time of each yearly assessment ; 

 where land is let on lease for a term of which more than 50 3'^ears are unex- 

 pired the lessee is liable instead of the owner. 



The laud liable to duty is any land which has not been developed by 

 the erection of dwelling houses, buildings, or " trade " glass houses, or is not 

 otherwise used for the purpose of any business, trade or industry. 



The exemptions from undeveloped land duty, principally in order 

 to favour agricultural land, are: 



" Land the site value of which does not exceed £50 an acre; agricultural 

 land, except on such part of the site value as exceeds its agricultural val- 

 ue ; parks and spaces open to the public as of right, or to which the public 

 are allowed reasonable access ; recreation grounds, used as such under agree- 

 ments for not less than 5 years ; land not exceeding i acre occupied with a 

 dwelling house ; garden (with a dwelling-house) up to 5 acres, when site 

 value of the whole does not exceed 20 times its annual value ; agricultural 

 land held under an existing agreement, not chargeable until agreement 

 terminates ; agricultural land occupied and cultivated by the owner, if 

 all land owned by him does not exceed £500 in value ; allowance is made 

 where increment value duty has been paid in respect of undeveloped land ; 

 land held b}^ rating authorities such as corpora Jons and municipalities ; 

 land held by statutory public companies, such as railwaj^ canal, gas, water 

 and dock companies ; land in respect of which expenditure had been incur- 

 red in road-making to the extent of not less than £100 for each acre of land 

 improved bj' such roads ." 



The exemption of agriculture is very complete: suppose a small farm has 

 a value as building land for development into a building estate, then the 

 excess of such value over agricultural value is alone liable to the duty. 

 The value for agricultural purposes includes the farm house, buildings, 

 timber, trees, and hedges as well as the land itself, and this aggregated 

 value is set against the Assessable Site Value (which is the building value) 

 of an assumed bare or divested site. 



Woodlands are treated as agricultural lands and the agrictdtural value, 

 which includes the timber or trees, is similarly contrasted with the Origi- 

 nal Site Value of the woodlands which have a value for building purposes. 

 Thus the excess of Site Value over the Agricultural Value is alone taxed 

 for Undeveloped Land Duty. 



Where lands around a town are let in allotments or garden plots, but 

 possess a higher value as building land, the excess value is taxable, but many 

 of such allotments are exempted because they are occupied ^vith a house 

 in the locaUty as a garden. 



(c) Reversion Duty 



This is payable by the lessor on the determination of a lease granted for 

 a term exceeding 21 years. The rate of duty is £1 for every £10 of the 

 value of the benefit accruing to the lessor. The benefit is measured by 

 deducting the Total Value of the property at the date of the grant of the 

 lease from the Total Value at the end of the lease, but an allowance is 



