HC Deb 05 August 1912 vol 41 c2873

  1. (1) The Commissioners of Inland Revenue shall cause all Income Tax to be collected, so far as possible, before the expiration of the year for which the same is charged, but nothing contained in this Section shall affect the powers of the Commissioners to allow payment of any part of such tax to be deferred pending the decision of any appeal relative there to or any provision contained in any of the enactments relating to Income Tax concerning the dates upon which such tax is payable by any railway company or other corporation or person.
  2. (2) For the purposes of this Section "year" means the twelve month ending on the 5th day of April.

Motion made, and Question proposed, "That the Clause be read a second time."

Mr. JAMES HOPE

I beg to move this Clause.

Last year considerable controversy arose with respect to certain instructions that were given by some officers of the Inland Revenue in connection with the payment of Income Tax, and I should like to know from the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will take care that in future any such instructions will be rendered impossible. I do not say that the Chancellor of the Exchequer gave the instructions, but the fact remains that they were given, and that certain railway companies were invited not to pay their Income Tax within the financial year. I hope the Chancellor of the Exchequer will take steps to render such a thing impossible in the future, and with that object in view, I beg leave to move this Clause.

Mr. LLOYD GEORGE

I have given an undertaking that, in order to make it impossible for anything of the kind to happen in future, we will collect the Income Tax from railway companies three or four months before the usual time.

Question, "That the Clause be read a second time," put, and negatived.