§ MR. GWYNN (Galway)To ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer if he can estimate the sums raised from Ireland by the existing taxes on sugar and tea, respectively; and if he can say what Ireland's contribution would amount to were the same amount of revenue raised by direct instead of by indirect taxation.
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(Answered by Mr. Asquith.) I must refer the hon. Member to the Return of Revenue and Expenditure for 1906–7 (England, Scotland, and Ireland), No. 245, of 1907, which shows that the total revenue derived from the Tea and Sugar Duties was £11,839,000, to which Ireland contributed £1,154,000, or 9.7 per cent. If the same total amount wore raised by direct taxation, the amount of Ireland's contribution would, of course, depend on the nature of the direct taxes imposed. The percentage of Ireland's present
†See(4)Debates,clxxviii, 336–7.
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contribution to the income-tax is 3.4 per cent., and to the death duties 3.6 per cent.