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(iv) in-depth inquiry into potential tax avoidance schemes;
(v)
slow response to enquiries from executors and third parties;
(vi)
tracing of a deceased's life-time gifts;
(d)
(vii) tracing of undisclosed assets; or
(viii) disputes between beneficiaries of the estate.
It has always been the Inland Revenue Department's policy to settle estate duty cases as expeditiously as possible. In fact, the Estate Duty Office's current performance pledge is to finalise 98% of the exempt and simple cases (not involving landed properties, private company shares and interest in business) within six weeks from the receipt of the application; 80% of the other exempt and simple cases within six months; and 75% of the complicated or dutiable cases within two years. The senior management of the Department and its Users' Committee regularly review actual performance as compared to pledged targets. The actual performance achieved for the past two years is shown in Annex.
Where a deceased's dependants have difficulties in meeting his funeral expenses or providing for their own maintenance, the Commissioner of Inland Revenue may authorise banks to release money from the deceased's bank accounts to relieve the hardship.
Where a case cannot be finalised within a reasonable time because of the need to trace life-time gifts etc., the executor or the administrator can apply for the issue of provisional estate duty clearance papers upon production of a satisfactory guarantee (i.e. bank guarantee, equitable mortgage, deposit of quoted shares, transfer of bank account balances as payment on account). The executor or the administrator can then proceed with the application for the grant to administer the estate. For duty payable on the leasehold properties held solely by the deceased, the executor may opt to settle by instalments.