Income Tax Act 2007 section 472

Settlor where property becomes settled because of variation of will etc.

Section 472 identifies who is treated as the settlor for income tax purposes when a variation of a will or intestacy causes property to become settled property that would not otherwise have been held in trust.

• When a post-death variation of a will or intestacy creates a settlement, and the capital gains tax rules in section 62(6) of TCGA 1992 apply, this section determines who is treated as the settlor for income tax purposes.
• The person treated as the settlor is whoever held or would have held an absolute entitlement to the property as a legatee immediately before the variation — including those who would have been entitled but for being a minor or lacking legal capacity.
• "Legatee" is defined broadly to include anyone receiving property under a will, on intestacy, or by way of a deathbed gift (donatio mortis causa), and also covers property appropriated by personal representatives to satisfy pecuniary legacies or other interests in the estate.
• A person who receives property through a deathbed gift is treated as having acquired it at the date of the donor's death, not when the gift was originally made.

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