27 JULY 1912, Page 16

INCREMENT VALUE DUTY.

[To THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."' Sin,—A piece of land of the value of £1,000 at April 1909 may be held by the owner for fifty years and then sold for £1,500. In the interval money may have become depreciated to the extent of 33l per cent.—a not unlikely supposition. The seller of the land, which would be really of no higher value, would be liable for increment duty on the difference between £1,000 and £1,500. Where would be the tangible increment value in respect of which the duty would be