§ MR. FELLI beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer if, on his rearrangement of the incidence of the income-tax, he will provide that limited companies shall be required to pay income-tax only on the dividends they actually pay to their shareholders, and not on an estimate of profits arbitrarily arrived at by the Commissioners, and which profits are rarely available for distribution among the shareholders.
§ MR. ASQUITHThe hon. Member's suggestion has often been considered, but neither my predecessors nor I myself have ever seen any sufficient reason for altering the law for the assessment of limited companies to income-tax upon their profits as determined by the rules of the Income-Tax Acts, in the same way as other taxpayers.
§ MR. FELLIs it not the fact that a considerable number of shareholders have to pay tax on an income they never receive?