§ SIR EDWARD STRACHEY (Somersetshire, E.)To ask the First Lord of the Treasury if ho can say when the Return (Personal Property Contribution to Local Taxation Abroad), ordered by the House, August, 1901, will be presented.
(Answered by Mr. A. J. Balfour.) The Return referred to is one setting out the system under which personal property is made to contribute towards local taxation by means of a local income tax or local death duty in the following countries: France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Holland, United States of America, and in all British self-governing Colonies and the Channel Islands. The particulars required for the Return have been asked for by the Foreign and Colonial Offices. Reports have been received by the Foreign Office from France, Prussia, Austria, Belgium, Holland, and United States. These were sent by the Foreign Office to the Local Government Board, who, in returning them, suggested the desirability of further information being obtained on certain points from His Majesty's representatives abroad. The Foreign Office have taken steps for this purpose. The Colonial Office have sent to the Board Reports from all the self-governing Colonies except Cape Colony, Victoria, Tasmania, and New Zealand. These Reports are in course of examination, and will be sent on to the Foreign Office at an early date. A Report as to Jersey has also been forwarded to the Foreign Office. The Return will be made as soon as the information is complete.