§ Mr. GIBSON BOWLESasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer could he say which of the new duties and increased duties proposed by the Finance Bill, 1909, as set forth in the White Paper, No. 316, of 1909, under six separate heads, including twenty separate new or increased taxes, have been levied during the current financial year since 31st March, 1909; what amount has been received in respect of each one of the twenty items up to the present date; what has been allowed in respect of the abatements and allowances mentioned in that Return in respect of Income Tax; are the Commissioners of Inland Revenue and of Customs continuing at this time to levy all the new and increased duties proposed in the Finance Bill, 1909, and to allow the abatements and allowances there proposed, or, if not all, which of them; and, if so, by what authority do they now levy these duties and make these allowances?
§ Mr. LLOYD-GEORGEThe only new and increased duties which have been levied or paid as voluntary deposits under the Budget Resolutions of last year are:—Customs.—Spirits, increase of 3s. 9d. a gallon; motor spirit, 3d. a gallon; tobacco, increase of 8d. a lb. Excise.—Spirits, increase of 3s. 9d. a gallon. Estate, etc. Duties.—Increase of Estate Duty scale; increase of Settlement Estate Duty from 1 to 2 per cent.; amendment of law in connection with powers of disposition; revision of Legacy and Succession Duties. Income Tax.—At the rate of 1s. 2d. instead of 1s. in the £.
For particulars of the amounts received I must ask my hon. Friend to wait until I am in a position to make my financial statement upon the result of the year as a whole. No amount has been allowed in respect of the proposed abatements and allowances under Income Tax. Since the prorogation of Parliament on 3rd December last, the new and additional duties mentioned above have not been levied, but all amounts voluntarily paid are received on deposit.
§ Mr. GIBSON BOWLESalso asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has considered that it is now impossible to make returns or to give the notices which Clause 72 of the Finance Bill, 1909, proposed to require, under heavy penalties, before 31st December last, inasmuch as that day is now long past; that, inasmuch as the Super-tax on Income Tax was 991 proposed to be based on those notices and returns, does he now, in view of the impossibility of their being made, propose to levy the Super-tax for the present financial year or to allow it to lapse for the year; and have the Special Commissioners in any instance exercised, or are they now exercising, the right proposed to be conferred upon them by Clause 72 (5) of making their own assessment of Super-tax for the present financial year in the absence of the information for its assessment proposed by the Bill?
§ Mr. LLOYD-GEORGEThe answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. As regards the second part of the question, it is not intended that the proposed Super-tax should lapse for the present financial year. The answer to the third part of the question is in the negative.