§ 70. Mr. BRIANTasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what arrangements have been made, in view of the impossibility 2415 of assessing jointly a married couple, in the case of the husband being a weekly wage earner, and thus liable to quarterly assessment, and the wife a salaried employé, being assessed yearly, to ensure that the wife receives her proportionate share of the £225 and £45 allowance; and if he will say whether either of the following methods of assessment may be adopted, namely, assessment as a separate individual entitled to £135 abatement and to half the other family allowances, or to estimate the husband's salary on a minimum basis and in this way work out the proportionate shares of the allowances due to the husband and wife respectively?
§ Mr. BALDWINThe question of an apportionment of the deductions from assessable income between husband and wife by reference to their respective assessable incomes arises only where an application for separate assessment is made, either by the husband or wife, under the provisions of Section 25 of the Finance Act, 1920. The number of such applications is in fact not large, and my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer is not aware that any difficulty of the nature suggested in the question has yet occurred in any of these cases, but if the hon. Member has a particular case in mind and will furnish him with the details, he will be happy to have the matter investigated and will communicate to him the result.