MR. FINOH-HATTONasked Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Whether his attention has been called to the following words, which occur in a circular dated 20th November 1884, and issued by the Inland Revenue Office to Surveyors of Taxes in England and Wales as instructions to them for giving effect to the Resolution of the House of Commons of 17th November, adding an additional penny to the Income Tax, viz.:—
In cases in which the collector's duplicates have been completed by the clerk, and have been handed to you for examination, you may arrange with the clerk for the insertion of the Duties specified being made in your office, and, in order to enable you to enter the Duties without loss of time, I am directed to authorise you to draw upon the nearest Collector of Inland Revenue to lend you at once the services of one Assistant of Excise;whether ho has taken any steps to prevent the authority thus given for placing the Returns under Schedules A and B within the knowledge of persons unpledged to secrecy as to their contents; whether such an authority is not, in the case of Schedule D, in direct contravention of the Income Tax Act, 5 and 6 Vic. c. 35, and subsequent Acts; whe- 636 ther any Assistant of Excise, acting under such authority, will render himself liable to a penalty of £100 under the provisions of those Acts; and, whether he will at once withdraw the circular?
THE CHANOELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Mr. GUILDERS)Secrecy only attaches to returns and assessments under Schedule D, and a violation of secrecy in connection with that Schedule would undoubtedly be in contravention, of the Income Tax Acts. But as it is already matter of strict instruction to Surveyors of Taxes not to allow any information under that Schedule to pass through the hands of a person not sworn to secrecy, and as the Board of Inland Revenue have every reason to believe that their instructions in this respect are rigidly adhered to, it was unnecessary to repeat the injunction, and no necessity whatever exists for withdrawing the Circular referred to. The Assistants of Excise employed in connection with Schedule D are invariably sworn to secrecy. As regards Schedules A and B, although secrecy is not imposed by law, it is not the practice of the Board of Inland Revenue to allow their officers to permit the inspection of the assessments by any unauthorized person.