§ MR. THOMPSONsaid, he would beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Whether coupons issued by Railway Companies for the payment of their debenture interest are rendered liable to the Stamp Duty of one penny by the new Stamp Act; or whether, in the opinion of the Law Officers of the Crown, the wording of that Act carries out the assurance given to this House by him, on the 26th of March last, namely, that "the Resolution would not in the slightest degree affect the question raised with regard to the liability of coupons or dividend warrants to pay the penny tax, and that when the Bill was drawn, the form of the clause would make this clear"?
§ MR. LAINGreplied that it certainly was not the intention of the Government to impose any new liability with regard to coupons issued by Railway Companies. He was distinctly informed by the Solicitor to the Inland Revenue that, in the opinion of the Board of Inland Revenue, the Resolution did not contain any such liability. It could only be enforced by the Inland Revenue, and he thought that a sufficient assurance that no change would be made in the law as it at present existed.