Ingram and Palmer-Tomkinson (Executors of the Estate of Lady Jane Lindsay Morgan Ingram Deceased) v Commissioners of Inland Revenue: CA 28 Jul 1997

The deceased had first conveyed property to her solicitor. Leases back were then created in her favour, and then the freeholds were conveyed at her direction to her children and grandchildren. They were potentially exempt transfers.
Held: (Millett LJ dissenting) The conveyance to the solicitor left the solicitor holding the property as bare trustee for the deceased. It was not possible for such a trustee then to create effective leases in favour of the beneficiary of that trust. Transactions allowing transfer and leaseback of house were ineffective to avoid Inheritance Tax; since there had been a benefit reserved.
Millett LJ observed that for overreaching purposes there must be not merely two parties to the transaction but two independent parties who are capable of dealing with each other at arm’s length.

Judges:

Lord Justice Nourse, Lord Justice Evans And Lord Justice Millett

Citations:

Times 11-Sep-1997, Gazette 10-Sep-1997, [1997] EWCA Civ 2212, [1997] 4 All ER 395, [1997] STC 1234

Statutes:

Finance Act 1986 102(1)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Appeal fromIngram and Another v Inland Revenue Commissioners ChD 23-May-1995
Lady Ingram had first conveyed properties to her solicitor who on the next day let the properties back to her, and on the day after conveyed the freehold of the properties to her family.
Held: The leases in favour of Lady Ingram, having been . .
CitedRye v Rye HL 1962
Two brothers were in partneship in unequal shares, but acquired a property for use by the business which they held in equal shares. They agreed a parol yearly tenancy between themselves as owners and as partners. After one died his son took over his . .
MentionedAttorney General v Earl Grey QBD 1898
. .
MentionedAttorney General v Earl Grey CA 2-Jan-1898
The court considered the effectiveness of a gift from father to son for estate duty purposes, where the revenue said that the father had reseved an interest in the land to himself. The conveyance to the defendant donee contained the following . .
MentionedGrey (Earl) v Attorney General HL 1900
The donor conveyed land to his son by way of gift but reserved an annual rentcharge during his life which was charged on the land conveyed and which his son covenanted to pay (together with the other liabilities of the donor), and retained the right . .
CitedRe Cochrane 1905
(High Court of Ireland) The court considered the effectivenmess of a gift with a reservation to the donor, distinguishing Earl Grey: ‘The limitation of this annuity, although prior to the gift, was, as well as being charged on the land, secured by . .
CitedKildrummy (Jersey) Ltd v Inland Revenue Commissioners IHCS 1990
It was not possible in Scottish law for a man to grant a lease to a nominee for himself: (Lord Hope) ‘I have, as I have said, no difficulty in the concept by which the title to property and the beneficial interest are separated, the title being held . .
CitedSt Aubyn v Attorney General HL 12-Jul-1951
The donor exercised powers of appointment ‘to make some part of the settled property his own’, and it was ‘wholly irrelevant that by a contemporaneous or later transaction he surrenders his life interest in other parts of it’. The different parts of . .
MentionedCommissioner for Stamp Duties of New South Wales v Perpetual Trust Company Ltd PC 1943
(Australia) The court considered reservation of benefit rules. Under the settlement the trustees were required to hold certain company shares, to apply the income for the maintenance of the settlor’s son during his minority, and to transfer the . .
CitedRe Cochrane CA 1906
(Court of Appeal of Ireland) The court considered the effectivenmess of a gift with a reservation to the donor. As to the Earl Grey case, if ever there was a case to which the statute applied it was The Attorney-General v Grey. The court referred to . .
CitedAdvocate (HM) v M’Taggart Stewart 1906
. .
CitedMunro v Commissioner for Stamp Duties PC 1933
In 1909, the deceased orally agreed with his six children that he and they would carry on the business of graziers on land owned by him as partners under a partnership at will. In 1913 the deceased transferred by way of gift the freehold interest in . .
CitedLang v Webb 1912
(High Court of Australia) In 1908 the deceased had transferred and conveyed a piece of land to each of her three sons; on the same date as, but subsequently to, the execution of the transfers and conveyances there had been executed by the deceased . .
CitedCommissioner of Stamp Duties of New South Wales v Perpetual Trustee Co Ltd PC 1943
The Board consideerd the application of the retention of benefit rules. Lord Russell of Killowen said: ‘the entire exclusion of the donor from . . enjoyment which is contemplated . . is entire exclusion from . . enjoyment of the beneficial interest . .
CitedOakes v Commissioner of Stamp Duties of New South Wales PC 1953
oakes_csdnswPC1954
A father made a gift of land in favour of himself and his four children in equal shares but then retained wide powers of management for which he reserved the right to charge remuneration.
Held: The donor was entirely excluded from the . .
CitedWalsh v Lonsdale CA 1882
Lonsdale purported to grant to Walsh a seven year lease with rent payable in advance. The lease was not embodied in a deed, and when Walsh went into possession, an annual tenancy with rent payable in arrear was created. Walsh did not pay in advance, . .
CitedLang v Webb 1912
(High Court of Australia) In 1908 the deceased had transferred and conveyed a piece of land to each of her three sons; on the same date as, but subsequently to, the execution of the transfers and conveyances there had been executed by the deceased . .
CitedFaulkner v Lowe 1848
A covenant by one person with himself and other was senseless. . .
CitedHenderson v Astwood PC 1894
A sale was undertaken by a mortgagee, ostensibly to a third party but in reality to his nominee. The land was conveyed by the mortgagee to his nominee, who executed a declaration that he held the land in trust for the mortgagee, and who subsequently . .
CitedW T Ramsay Ltd v Inland Revenue Commissioners HL 12-Mar-1981
The taxpayers used schemes to create allowable losses, and now appealed assessment to tax. The schemes involved a series of transactions none of which were a sham, but which had the effect of cancelling each other out.
Held: If the true nature . .
CitedRegent Oil Co Ltd v JA Gregory (Hatch End) Ltd CA 1966
No general distinction is to be drawn between the two types of mortgage and sub-mortgage. The court considered the practice for a mortgagor to attorn tenant to his mortgagee. The tenancy contained no covenants and was merely a device to give the . .
CitedLewis v Hillman 1852
A sale by a sole trustee to his nominee posing as a bona fide purchaser was held to be incapable of overreaching the interests of the beneficiaries. It was ‘powerless for that purpose’. . .
CitedIngle v Richards (No 1) 1860
. .
CitedRe George Whichelow Ltd; Bradshaw v Orpen 1953
A mother had left shares her in a company to three daughters for life with remainder to their children who should attain 21. The three daughters and their children directed the trustees to appoint the eldest of the daughters as their proxy, or to . .
CitedIn Re Brockbank 1948
A new trustee was to be appointed. The beneficiaries, all of full age and capacity wanted the remaining trustee to appoint someone they nominated. The trustee purported to exercise the discretion given to him in the trust deed and appointed someone . .
CitedHirachand Punamchand v Temple CA 1911
The defendant, a British army officer in India, had given a promissory note to the plaintiff moneylenders. Unable to pay, he suggested they apply to his father, Sir Richard Temple. In reply, Sir Richard Temple’s solicitors wrote saying they were . .
CitedBelaney v Belaney 1867
The testator bought the residue of a 99 year lease and took an assignment of the term. In the following year he bought the freehold reversion and, by a deed which recited that he was desirous that the term should not merge in the freehold, the . .
CitedFarrer v Farrer’s Ltd 1888
A sale by a mortgagee to a company of which he was a director and shareholder was held to be effective to extinguish the equity of redemption, but only because the sale was negotiated between the mortgagee and the other directors at arms’ length. A . .
CitedWilliams v Scott PC 1900
(New South Wales) The Board was asked whether an abstract of title was good because it appeared from the abstract that there had been a purchase by a trustee without full consent or release from the beneficiaries.
Held: The purchase of trust . .
CitedAttorney General v Worrall CA 1895
The donor gave his son the benefit of a debt of about andpound;24,000 which was owing to him, in return for which the son covenanted to pay the father an annuity of andpound;735 p.a. during his life.
Held: ‘It has been held that in cases of . .
CitedSt Edmundsbury and Ipswich Diocesan Board of Finance v Clark (No.2) CA 1973
When looking at a contract ‘one must construe the document according to the natural meaning of the words contained in the document as a whole, read in the light of surrounding circumstances.’
The contra preferetem rule can only come into play . .
CitedCommissioners of Inland Revenue v McGuckian HL 21-May-1997
Steps which had been inserted into a commercial transaction, but which had no purpose other than the saving of tax are to be disregarded when assessing the tax effect of the scheme. The modern approach to statutory construction is to have regard to . .
CitedGreyv Ellison 1856
A policy of insurance was created in which one department of an insurance company purported to effect a contract with another department of the same company. Although different individuals were parties to the contract, they all contracted as agents . .

Cited by:

Appeal fromIngram and Another v Commissioners of Inland Revenue HL 10-Dec-1998
To protect her estate from Inheritance Tax, the deceased gave land to her solicitor, but then took back a lease. The solicitor then conveyed the land on freehold on to members of her family.
Held: The lease-back by the nominee was not void as . .
CitedHSBC Bank Plc v Dyche and Another ChD 18-Nov-2009
The parties disputed the claimed beneficial interest of the second defendant. The second defendant (C) said that it had been purchased for him by the first defendant (D) from C’s trustee in bankruptcy, and was thereafter held in trust for him on the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Inheritance Tax, Trusts

Updated: 09 November 2022; Ref: scu.142609