§ MR. O'MARA (Kilkenny, S.)To ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will state the total amounts of the assessments for Income-tax in Ireland and Great Britain, respectively; whether he will state their relative percentage to the joint total; and whether these percentages were recommended by the Royal Commission on Financial Relations as a means of ascertaining the taxable capacity of the Two Kingdoms; and, if so, what action he proposes to take.
§ MR. O'MARATo ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will state the total amounts of assessment for death duties for the ten years 1896 to 1906 for Ireland and Great Britain, respectively, and their relative percentages of the joint total; whether these percentages were recommended by the Royal Commission on Financial Relations of the Two Kingdoms as a means of ascertaining their relative taxable capacity; and, if so, what steps he proposes to take.
(Answered by Mr. Asquith.) The under-mentioned are the total amounts of the assessments for Income-tax in Ireland and Great Britain, respectively, for the year 1903–4, the latest year for which the statistics are complete:—
35 The net capital values of estates liable to estate duty for the years 1896–97 to 1904–5 for Ireland and Great Britain, respectively, and the relative percentage.
| Net Capital Values of Estates and Percentages of the Joint Totals. | ||||||
| Years. | Ireland. | Great Britain. | Joint Totals. | |||
| Amounts. | Percentages. | Amounts. | Percentages. | Amounts. | Percentages. | |
| £ | £ | £ | ||||
| 1896–97 | 11,628,000 | 5.4 | 204,224,000 | 94.6 | 215,852,000 | 100 |
| 1897–98 | 11,664,000 | 4.7 | 235,678,000 | 95.3 | 247,342,000 | 100 |
| 1898–99 | 12,886,000 | 5.1 | 237,733,000 | 9.49 | 250,619,000 | 100 |
| 1899–00 | 12,842,000 | 4.4 | 279,973,000 | 95.6 | 292,815,000 | 100 |
| 1900–01 | 14,147,000 | 5.3 | 250,367,000 | 94.7 | 264,514,000 | 100 |
| 1901–02 | 12,561,000 | 4.3 | 276,309,000 | 95.7 | 288,870,000 | 100 |
| 1902–03 | 11,093,000 | 4.1 | 259,380,000 | 95.9 | 270,473,000 | 100 |
| 1903.04 | 12,897,000 | 4.9 | 251,221,000 | 95.1 | 264,118,000 | 100 |
| 1904–05 | 12,252,000 | 4.6 | 252,851,000 | 95.4 | 255,103,000 | 100 |
§ The general Report signed by eleven of the thirteen members of the Financial Relations Commission contained no recommendation as to the most suitable means of estimating the relative taxable capacity of Great Britain and Ireland. But in separate Reports, signed by groups of members, the income-tax assessment, the assessments to the death duties, and other bases of comparison were discussed. As I stated in the discussion on the Budget Resolutions, the whole matter is receiving my consideration.