§ COLONEL KING-HARMAN (Kent, Isle of Thanet)asked Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Whether Income Tax Collectors are authorised to assess and press for the tax on incomes which have already paid their assessment elsewhere; whether he is aware that incomes, including pensions, which are derivable from the East Indies, and which pay Income Tax there, are again taxed in this country; and, whether, if the Income Tax Collectors are acting according to their instructions in pressing for the tax on an income which has elsewhere been subjected to this Duty, he will take steps to remedy this apparent injustice?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Mr. GOSCHEN) (St. George's, Hanover Square)In reply to the hon. and gallant Gentleman, I have to say that the Income Tax Acts take no cognizance of the fiscal laws of other countries. The tax is levied on all incomes above a certain amount received in this country, without regard to the source from which they are derived. For purposes of taxation, India, having its own separate system of finance, must be regarded as quite distinct from the United Kingdom. With regard to the last paragraph, I am afraid that the course which the hon. and gallant Gentleman wishes me to take would be striking at the general principle upon which the Income Tax is levied, and cannot be adopted without opening the door to other exemptions. The administration of the Income Tax is rendered peculiarly difficult by any exemptions.