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Contemporary  Agricultural  Law. 
Agriculture,  however,  may  to  some  extent  be  indirectly 
affected  by  the  very  important  and  much  discussed  measure 
known  as  the  Finance  (1909-1910)  Act,  1910  (10  Ed.  7 c.  8), 
which  imposes  the  new  land  taxes,  viz.,  “ Increment  Value 
Duty,”  “Undeveloped  Land  Duty,”  “Reversion  Duty,”  and 
“ Minerals  Rights  Duty.”  Only  the  first  two  of  these  appear  to 
have  any  bearing  on  agricultural  land,  for  “ Minerals  Rights 
Duty  ” applies  to  minerals  only,  and  “ Reversion  Duty  ” need 
not  be  considered,  as  it  is  not  charged  on  the  determination  of 
a lease  of  any  land  which  is  at  the  time  of  the  determination 
agricultural  land  nor  on  the  determination  of  a lease,  the  original 
term  of  which  did  not  exceed  twenty-one  years.  Increment 
value  duty  and  undeveloped  land  duty  do,  however,  affect 
agricultural  land  to  some  extent,  though  it  is  difficult  to  foresee, 
and  scarcely  within  the  province  of  this  article  to  say,  what 
bearing  they  may  eventually  have  on  the  pursuit  of  agriculture 
in  this  country. 
Increment  value  duty  is  at  the  rate  of  20  per  cent,  on  any 
increment  or  rise  in  the  site  value  of  land  and  is  leviable  on 
the  occasion  of  any  transfer  or  sale  of  the  fee  simple  of  the 
land  or  of  any  interest  in  the  land,  and  on  certain  other 
occasions,  including  the  owner’s  death,  but  under  Section  7 
of  the  Act  it  is  not  charged  in  respect  of  agricultural  land 
while  that  land  has  no  higher  value  than  its  market  value 
at  the  time  for  agricultural  purposes  only.  And  it  is 
further  provided  that  any  value  for  sporting  purposes  or  for 
other  purposes  dependent  on  the  use  of  the  land  as  agricul- 
tural land  shall  be  treated  as  value  for  agricultural  purposes 
only,  except  where  the  value  for  any  such  purpose  exceeds  the 
agricultural  value  of  land.  “ Agriculture  ” for  the  purposes  of 
this  part  of  the  Act  is  defined  as  including  the  use  of  land  as 
meadow  or  pasture  land,  or  orchard,  or  osier,  or  woodland,  or 
for  market  gardens,  nursery  grounds,  or  allotments.  The  result 
is  that  so  long  as  the  market  value  of  land  is  attributable  to  its 
value  for  agricultural  purposes  only,  or  for  such  purposes  plus 
any  value  for  sporting  or  other  like  purposes  which  do  not 
pe7'  se  exceed  the  agricultural  value,  no  increment  duty  is 
chargeable.  If,  however,  land  in  fact  used  for  agriculture  has 
a market  value  exceeding  its  value  for  that  purpose,  e.g.,  if  it 
has  a higher  value  for  building,  for  a golf  course,  or  for  a grouse 
moor,  it  will  on  a sale  or  any  of  the  other  occasions  on  which 
this  duty  is  leviable  become  liable  to  increment  value  duty,  if 
there  has  been  a rise  of  more  than  10  per  cent,  in  its  site  value. 
There  is  an  exception  from  the  duty  in  favour  of  the  small 
occupying  owner  by  Section  8,  Sub-section  2,  which  provides 
that  increment  value  duty  shall  not  be  charged  on  the  incre- 
ment value  of  land  where  immediately  before  the  occasion  on 
