§ Sir FREDERICK BANBURYasked whether in the German Empire there is any Income Tax; and whether in Prussia the maximum rate of Income Tax on the largest incomes is no more than 4 per cent.?
§ Mr. HOBHOUSEThere is no Imperial Income Tax, but, as I stated in reply to the hon. Member for Aston Manor, on the 28th inst., a system of Income Taxation prevails in practically every German State. The answer to the second part of the question is in the affirmative, but by a law which passed the Prussian legislature on 26th May, 1909, the rate of the Income Tax on the highest class of income (those over £1,800 per annum) has been raised by 25 per cent., making the rate 5 per cent. instead of 4 per cent. The Erganzungssteuer or property tax (a tax on capital complementary to the Income Tax) has also been raised by 25 per cent. of the tax due. This tax worked out on the old scale in terms of Income Tax amounted to l¼ per cent., which would now be 19–16ths, or something over 1½ per cent.