§ MR. VIVIAN (Birkenhead)To ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the repayment of Income Tax on interest paid to banks by borrowers, is there any reason why loans negotiated direct with a bank should be treated differently from exactly similar loans negotiated with a bank through a broker; and whether he will arrange that no disability shall accrue to a borrower who employs a broker.
(Answered by Mr. Asquith.) No difference is made between one loan and another, provided the immediate lender be a bank. But a loan cannot be treated as made by a bank, unless a bank be the immediate creditor. The fact that a loan from a bank was negotiated by a third person would not make the treatment of the interest of the loan different from what it would be if the borrower had himself negotiated the loan.