§ 57. Commander BELLAIRSasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that the new Italian Finance Bill includes the taxation of bachelors; whether he has telegraphed for the proposals; and whether any similar taxation has yet been adopted in any country?
Mr. CHAMBERLAINI have seen a statement to this effect in the Press, and steps are being taken to obtain particulars of the proposals embodied in the Italian Finance Bill. I understand that some form of additional taxation on unmarried persons was imposed before the War in one of the minor German States, the Principality of Reuss of the Elder line, which contained some 72,000 inhabitants, and in Austria, where the Income Tax was assessed on the joint family income. The Australian Federal Government in 1917 introduced a provision for a special tax on these lines, but this was repealed by a later Act as from the date of its original enactment.