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A disposition which is void is of no legal effect and therefore causes no loss to the donor's estate. It therefore cannot give rise to IHT. The same would be true of an ultra vires act of trustees of a settlement: see I5.135.

The same ought logically to follow for a disposition which is voidable, or otherwise defeasible in law, but here IHTA 1984 makes express provision as to how the tax paid on the original transaction is to be undone — the rule also prevents the 'transfer back' from being a transfer of value.

Where a chargeable transfer is voidable or otherwise defeasible by virtue of any enactment or rule of law and is set aside on those grounds it is treated for IHT as though it had never been made. Any subsequent transfers have to be recalculated and, perhaps, tax refunded¹. This is different from the double charges relief for mutual transfers (see I3.557,