§ MR. BELLAIRS (Lynn Regis)To ask the President of the Board of Trade, whether he is aware that the Commissioners of Inland Revenue reported in 1903 that it is by the figures 'of gross income that national prosperity is to be measured; and whether he can give the figures of gross income for the United Kingdom in 1897 and the latest available, date.
(Answered by Mr. Lloyd-George). The statement referred to relates to the relative value as a test of national prosperity of the gross amount of incomes brought under the review of the Inland 1327 Revenue Department for purposes of income-tax assessment and the net income on which income-tax was received. It does not relate to the gross national income, of which no official particulars are available. The gross amount so brought under review in the financial year commencing 1st April, 1897, was, as stated in the Reports of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue, £734,461,246, whilst for the financial year commencing 1st April, 1905, the latest year for which the information is available, the corresponding figure was £925,184,556.