§ MR. C. B. HARMSWORTH (Worcestershire, Droitwich)I beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in connection with the Financial Statement of this year, he will consider the possibility of exempting charities and friendly societies from the payment of land tax when the total income from land of such charities and friendly societies is less than £160 per annum.
§ MR. ASQUITHThe question of exempting from land tax charities and other corporations whose income from all sources does not exceed £160 has already received my careful consideration, but, for the reasons given in my reply to a Question by the hon. Member for the Woodbridge Division on the 26th March last, to which I would refer my hon. friend, I do not think that any sufficient ground exists for altering the present law. The case for discrimination between different charities on the basis, not of total income, but of the amount of income derived from land alone, appears to me to be still less sustainable.