HC Deb 05 May 1885 vol 297 cc1638-40
SIR JOSEPH BAILEY

asked Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, What amount of taxation falls upon hops per hundredweight at the present rate of Beer Duty; and, what will be the equivalent Tax under the proposed new Beer Duty?

MR. HIBBERT

Perhaps the hon. Member will allow me to answer the Question. The Inland Revenue Board have had no knowledge of the quantity of hops used in the production of beer since the repeal of the Hop Duty in 1862; and there are, therefore, no means of calculating the amount of taxation that falls upon them.

MR. HICKS

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Whether, prior to the year 1880, the duty on malt was 21s. 8d..; whether, by the Act of 1880, a duty was imposed on beer equal to 25s. on a quarter of malt; and, whether it was now proposed to impose a duty on beer equal to 29s. on a quarter of malt, being an increase of about 16 per cent, in addition to the increase in 1880?

MR. HIBBERT

The actual duty on a quarter of malt before 1880 was 21s. 8½d.; but this was not the only tax on beer which had to be considered in fixing the rate of the Beer Duty, such as the brewers' licence. Malt was only taxed because it was a component part of beer, and occupied a similar position to sugar, which was and is taxed when used in brewing, though the general Sugar Duties have been repealed. In 1880 the Prime Minister estimated the total relief actually given by the repeal of the Malt Tax at 24s. 6½d. per quarter. The annual brewers' returns show that the Beer Duty at 6s. 3d. per barrel was almost exactly equal to this amount. The increase in the Beer Duty now proposed will make it equal to about 28s. 5½. per quarter.

MR. ALLSOPP

asked Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, What was the rate of the incidence of the Malt Tax on a quarter of barley before the abolition of that Tax; what is the equivalent Tax on a quarter of barley at the present rate of the Beer Duty; and, what will be the equivalent Tax under the proposed new Beer Duty?

MR. HIBBERT

I answered an absolutely identical Question yesterday put by the right hon. Baronet the Member for North Devon. The old brewers' licence was practically a Beer Tax. There is no necessity now to use malt.

MR. HICKS

asked Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, How it is that the Duty on worts of a specific gravity of one thousand and fifty-seven is stated in the Resolution reported from the Committee of Ways and Means to be 7s. 6d. whilst in his Statement on Friday it was understood that he named 7s. 3d. as the proposed Duty?

MR. HIBBERT

If the hon. Member will look again at the Resolution he will see that he is under a misapprehension, the rate of duty on home-brewed beer having been fixed at 7s. 3d. per barrel. He has probably looked at the 10th Resolution, which relates to the Customs Duty on imported beer, instead of the ninth, which imposes the new duty on beer brewed in the United Kingdom.