§ MR. MACLEANI beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the Government has authorised the Bank of England to deduct income tax at the rate of 1s. in the £ from coupons or interest warrants maturing on or about the 1st of July instant, and whether the tax should not be levied at the rate of 8d. in the £ for interest which accrued during the first quarter of the year, and 1s. in 232 the £ for the second quarter, or an average rate of l0d. in the £ instead of 1s.
§ SIR M. HICKS BEACHDividends and interest from the public funds, from foreign or colonial loans, or foreign or colonial companies, and interest paid by local authorities to creditors on rates, are by law chargeable with income tax at the rate in force at the time when they become payable in this country, without regard to the period during which they have accrued. The Bank of England have been so informed by the Board of Inland Revenue, and are under obligation to deduct income tax accordingly. In other cases, such as mortgage interest and ground rents and the profits of public companies in the United Kingdom, income tax is deducted at an average rate based on the rates in force during the period in which the income taxed has been accruing, and if, in any such cases, the business of deducting the income tax is conducted by the Bank of England, this principle would be followed.