Inheritance Tax Act 1984 Schedule 7

Commencement: supplementary rules

Schedule 7 sets out the transitional rules that govern how various provisions of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 interact with the earlier enactments they replaced, particularly around the changeover date of 1 January 1985.

• Most provisions of the 1984 Act took effect from 1 January 1985, replacing corresponding earlier legislation (notably the Finance Act 1976), and these transitional rules clarify which law applies where events straddle the changeover date.
• In many cases the new 1984 Act provisions apply to post-1984 events even where an earlier related event (such as a death, a prior transfer, or the creation of a settlement) occurred before 1985.
• Certain administrative provisions — concerning non-resident trustees (section 218), powers to require information (section 219), and inspection of property (section 220) — came into force on 1 January 1985, but notices or authorisations already given under the old law continued to have effect.
• The 1984 Act does not apply to a case that would otherwise fall within a specific conditional exemption rule in Schedule 5 if the first chargeable event occurred before the end of 1984.

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