§ MR. ELLIS (Nottinghamshire, Rushcliffe)I beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he can now state when the Second Reading of the Licensing Bill will be taken.
§ MR. ASQUITHI am not yet in a position to make a statement.
§ MR. GIBBS (Bristol, W.)To ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer if the income tax will be levied upon any sums set on one side for sinking fund purposes, should the Licensing Bill become law.
§ MR. ASQUITHThe Income tax Acts do not permit the allowance from the1 assessment upon the profits of a business of any sums set aside for the purpose of a. sinking fund.
§ MR. GEORGE FABER (York)asked "whether income tax would have to be paid on the sinking fund which was to take the place of the licence, as well as upon the licence itself.
§ MR. ASQUITHSums set aside for a sinking fund are not allowed to be deducted from the income tax before it is paid.
§ MR. GEORGE FABERMay it be deducted after payment?
§ MR. ASQUITHThe hon. Member must give me notice.
§ MR. GIBBSI beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer if surveyors of taxes have been specially instructed from Somerset House not to allow the Compensation Fund under the 1904 Act to be charged against profits for income tax purposes; if so, on what grounds; and how will it be with a time limit.
§ MR. ASQUITHA Compensation Fund charge borne by the person carrying on the business in the licensed house is allowed as a deduction from the profits of that business for purposes of assessment to income tax. A Compensation Fund charge borne by the owner of a licensed house which he lets to a tenant is not, in the opinion of the Board of Inland Revenue, an admissible deduction from the profits of any other business carried on by him. This view has, however, been disputed, and the matter has been made the subject of an appeal to the High Court, which is now pending.