§ Mr. SHEEHANasked whether demands have been made this year for the first time upon the occupiers of labourers' cottages in the rural districts of Ireland, who have allotments of land attached, for the payment of Income Tax; if so, whether this is one of the fresh incidents of taxation imposed under the Land Taxes Clauses of the Budget of last year; and can any exemption be claimed by labourers possessing merely an acre or half-acre of land from taxation of this kind?
§ Mr. LLOYD GEORGEFor the year 1910–11 a revaluation of property for the purposes of assessment to Income Tax Schedules A and B was made in Ireland, as in England and Wales; and some properties exempted from Income Tax in previous years were brought into assessment owing to the neglect of the owners to prove their title to exemption by completing and returning the forms of claim which they had received. The answer to the second part of the question is in the negative. As regards the third part, exemption from Income Tax can be obtained by the persons referred to if they prove, in the manner provided by the Income Tax Acts, that their total incomes from all sources do not exceed £160 per annum in each case.
§ Mr. SHEEHANDo I understand that the labourers can claim exemption?
§ Mr. LLOYD GEORGECertainly, if they can prove that their income is below the limit.