THE FINANCE BILL.

HC Deb 23 May 1895 vol 34 c127

On the Order for Committee on this Bill, Mr. HANBURY proposed to move— That it be an instruction to the Committee that they have power to alter the Land Tax and to amend the law relating thereto; and Mr. T. GIBSON BOWLES proposed— That it be an instruction to the Committee that they have power to alter the Estate Duty and to amend the law relating thereto.

*MR. SPEAKER

said, the two Instructions were unnecessary, because the matters with which they dealt, if and so far as they relate to a reduction of taxation—they spoke of an alteration of taxation—could be dealt with by the Committee. It was true that the Land Tax and the Estate Duty were not taxes which were levied by virtue of the Finance Bill, but there was a long series of precedents which showed that in Customs and Inland Revenue Bills reductions of taxes which were not levied actually by virtue of the Bill might be proposed in Committee on the Bill. The Bill, it was to be observed, was founded on Resolutions in Committee of Ways and Means, one of which contained the words— It is expedient to amend the law relating to Customs and Inland Revenue. The presence of those words had been held to cover general Amendments to the Finance Bill. The two Instructions were out of Order, because unnecessary.

The House went into Committee.

Mr. MELLOR

in the Chair.

(In the Committee.)

Clauses 1, 2, and 3 were agreed to.

Clause 4—