§ MR. FELL (Great Yarmouth)I beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer if income tax is charged on the full dividends paid by mining companies which have only a few years life before them, and where a large part of the dividend must be applied by the shareholders to replace capital which is wasting; and, if so, whether there is any claim which can be made by the shareholders for repayment of Income Tax so overpaid.
§ MR. ASQUITHIncome Tax is charged on the full "profits"(not dividends) from mines, ascertained as provided by the Income Tax Act of 1842, in Rule III. (2) and Rule IV. (5) of Schedule A., and no allowance is admissible on account of exhaustion of a mine. The law on the subject was very fully discussed and expounded by Lord Blackburn in the case "Coltness Iron Company v. Black" in the House of Lords, 1881.