§ MR. HALSEY (Herts, Watford)asked Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Whether the Commissioners of Inland Revenue have intimated to the London and North-Western, and other Railway Companies, that they
cannot, as heretofore, accept the statement portion of the dividend warrant as a voucher in support of a claim for the return of Income Tax, until such statement has been verified by the Secretary of the Company;and, if so, what is the object of imposing upon those concerned the additional trouble caused by this change from the long-established practice?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Mr. GOSCHEN) (St. George's, Hanover Square)In reply to the hon. Gentleman's Question, I have to say that, though the words he quotes do not appear in any letter which the Inland Revenue authorities can trace, they represent fairly enough the rule which they have laid down. Originally the Railway Companies inserted in the dividend statements the names of the proprietors of the stock; and the Inland Revenue accepted these statements, in support of an application for return of Income Tax, without further verification. The Companies, however, have since 1880, no doubt to save clerical labour, been discontinuing the insertion of the proprietors' names in the dividend statements; so, to avoid these statements being made the foundation of fictitious claims for return of Income Tax by persons not the registered proprietors of the stocks, it has been found necessary, where claims for repayment are made, to require the production of a verification signed by the Secretaries of the Companies. The Companies prefer this to inserting the proprietors' names in all the statements, as they formerly did.