§ Mr. GEORGE YOUNGERasked who would be liable under the Finance Bill for Licence Duties chargeable as from 30th September last in cases where licences had been transferred to new owners or tenants since that date; and under what clause of the Finance Bill the liability was defined?
§ Mr. LLOYD-GEORGEThe liability for the Licence Duty to be charged under the Finance Bill as from 30th September last is defined in the second paragraph of Clause 53 of the Bill, which provides that if the additional sum to be paid by the licence-holder exceeds the sum to be repaid or allowed upon his existing licence ceasing to be in force, the excess shall be treated as an addition to the duty to be paid in respect of any licence granted in Substitution for the existing licence. The duty will, therefore, in all cases be collected from the licence-holder, but if the licence-holder is bound by any such covenant as is referred to in Clause 46 he will be entitled to obtain a reimbursement as provided by that Clause. The fact that a licence may have been transferred to a 245 new owner or tenant since 30th September does not affect the position under the Bill as above explained, but any person who has since that date taken a transfer of an existing licence would, in doing so, have been able to take into account the liability under the Bill or to make some arrangement in reference to it, and in all probability has done so.