§ MR. COGHILL (Stoke-upon-Trent)I beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer if he can state by what section of the Income-Tax Acts income-tax is imposed on Easter offerings; and whether, seeing that the amounts of these Easter offerings are frequently less than £20, he will introduce a Bill this session to secure that the free gift of a congregation to a clergyman shall not be subject to any claim for income-tax upon it.
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Mr. AUSTEN CHAMBERLAIN, Worcestershire, E.)Easter offerings, when of the nature of Ecclesiastical Dues, are assessable under Schedule A, Section 60, of the Act of 1842, Rule No. II. (2). When of a voluntary character they are chargeable under Schedule E, and the First Rule in Section 146 of the Act of 1842. The Answer to the last clause of the Question is in the negative.
§ MR. COGHILLasked whether for income-tax purposes there should not be a distinction made between payments for services rendered and a free gift.
§ MR. AUSTEN CHAMBERLAINI must decline to answer any general Question of the kind in connection with a particular Question. Any Answer I might give in these circumstances might be misleading.
§ MR. COGHILLSupposing in any year a congregation refused these offerings, could the clergyman or the Chancellor of the Exchequer enforce their payment?
§ MR. AUSTEN CHAMBERLAINThat does not really arise out of the Question. It is quite obvious that the Chancellor of the Exchequer has no business to enforce payments by congregations.