§ MR. W. LOCKHARTsaid, he wished to ask the right hon. Gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if it was his intention, in dealing with the income tax, to remove the injustice to which the proprietors of lands and houses in Scotland were subjected, in respect that no deductions were allowed to them for rates or taxes, in accordance with the practice in England and Ireland?
THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUERsaid, the hon. Gentleman seemed to be under the misapprehension that there was a difference in the law of England, Scotland, and Ireland, with regard to deductions allowed to landlords for the income tax. That was not the fact, as the law was precisely the same in a all three countries. An allowance was made in respect of rates charged to the occupier, but none in respect of rates charged to the landlord. Those rates which must be by the law of England charged on the landlord, stood as part of his assessment, and were not deducted from it in England or Scotland more than in Ireland. It was, however, true that there were certain rates which in Scotland fell on the landlord and not on the tenant, but in England fell on the tenant and not on the landlord. In that respect, practically, the landlord in Scotland was under a disadvantage as compared with the landlord in England, but the law was precisely the same in both countries. It was not his intention to propose any change in this respect in the Bill that would be introduced.