§ 55. Sir GODFREY BARINGasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that the buildings of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, including those round the coast in which the life boats are housed, which are part of the necessary paraphernalia of the lifeboat station, are assessed to property tax; whether he is aware that the work of the institution, if it were not supported by voluntary contributions, would become the duty of the Board of Trade under the terms of the Merchant Shipping Acts and consequently a charge on the national funds; and whether, having regard to the 596 position of the Lifeboat Institution in the United Kingdom, he will now forego the demand for the tax in respect of premises occupied by the institution for the purposes of its national and humanitarian work or whether he will take power in the next Finance Act to give the institution the same exemption as is given to hospitals?
§ Mr. BONAR LAWI am informed by the Commissioners of Inland Revenue that the number of cases in which Income Tax assessments have been made on lifeboat sheds is small, and that the amount of duty paid is insignificant. My hon. Friend will remember that a Committee of Inquiry into the Income Tax in all its bearings has been promised as one of the first steps to be taken immediately after the termination of the War. Among the matters which will engage the attention of the Committee will undoubtedly be the scope of the exemption in favour of charities, and obviously it is undesirable to anticipate without a general investigation the conclusions at which the Committee will arrive.