HC Deb 02 September 1909 vol 10 cc548-9
Sir HENRY KIMBER

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer why are the Excise Commissioners to prepare and keep the register of compensation values of licensed premises and of the equivalent annual compensation values and another set of Commissioners, viz., those of Inland Revenue, to certify such values; will the licensee have any opportunity of knowing how such values are arrived at, and of showing cause against the amount registered or certified against him before being forced to pay; is the licensee, or is the House, to be informed of the method of ascertainment or the formula of calculation of the compensation, and the figures upon which it is based and upon which he is to be taxed; what is the proportion or percentage which the sales are to bear to the compensation value; by how many years' purchase is the compensation value to be reduced to its equivalent annual compensation value; and is the Licence Duty once ascertained by reference to sales or value based on sales in one year to be varied in each year according to the actual sales of each year, or is it to be fixed for any, and what, number of years?

Mr. HOBHOUSE

The Commissioners of Customs and Excise are the Department responsible for the issue of licences, and as such are entrusted by the Bill with the duty of preparing and keeping corrected the register of compensation values and annual compensation values upon which the duties for Excise Licences will be based. The Commissioners of Inland Revenue are the Department who are now responsible for determining the compensation values under the Licensing Act of 1904, and they have in consequence been entrusted with the duty of determining the compensation values for the purposes of the Finance Bill. The compensation values will be calculated on the same lines as under the Act of 1904, which are well known. The principles upon which the equivalent annual compensation value is to be calculated will, under the terms of an Amendment which my right hon. Friend has placed on the Paper, be prescribed by Regulations to be made by the Treasury.