§ 48. Mr. H. WILLIAMS (for Mr. MITCHESON)asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he can furnish an approximate estimate of the percentage of the national income taken in rates and taxes in 1913 and at the present time, respectively?
§ Mr. HORE-BELISHAThe sums collected in rates and taxes amounted to about £245,000,000 in 1913 and amount to about £816,000,000 at the present time. I regret that there are no official estimates available of the national income.
§ Mr. WILLIAMSWould my hon. Friend be willing to give some endorsement to the estimates published from unofficial sources, as many of his predecessors have done?
§ Mr. HORE-BELISHAI can inform my hon. Friend that it was 11.6 per cent. of the national income for 1911, according to the estimate of Professor Bowley, and 24.1 per cent. of the national income for 1932, according to the estimate of Mr. Colin Clark, but I cannot, of course, vouch for the figures.