HC Deb 07 July 1920 vol 131 cc1557-9

(1) Where on an application made for the purpose under the provisions of the Income Tax Acts, Income Tax for any year is assessable and chargeable on the incomes of the husband and wife respectively as if they were not married:—

  1. (a) All the provisions of the Income Tax Acts relating to claims for an allowance in respect of earned income and deductions from assessable income and for relief under Section thirty-two of the Income Tax Act. 1918, and the proof to be given with respect thereto, shall apply as if they were not married; and
  2. (b) The income of the husband and the wife shall be aggregated in estimating the amount to be repaid or allowed in respect of the allowances or deductions aforesaid, and for the purpose of the reduction of the rate of tax on the first two hundred and twenty-five pounds of the taxable income, and the total amount of any allowances or deductions given or made in respect of the incomes of husband and wife shall not exceed such an amount as would have been given on account of those allowances and deductions if such an application as aforesaid had not been made, and no reduction of the rate 1558 of tax shall be allowed in respect of more than two hundred and twenty-five pounds of the taxable income in all; and
  3. (c) The benefit of any such allowance or deduction and the reduction of the rate of tax on the first two hundred and twenty-five pounds of the taxable income may be given either by way of reduction of the amount of the tax to be paid, or by repayment of any excess of tax which has been paid, or by both of these means, as the case requires, and shall be given to the husband and the wife as regards the allowance in respect of earned income in proportion to the amounts of their respective earned incomes, and as regards deductions from assessable income and the reduction of the rate of tax in proportion to the amounts of their respective assessable incomes: Provided that in the case of relief given under Section thirty-two of the Income Tax Act, 1918, the benefit of the relief shall be given to the husband or wife, as the case may be, by whom the payment is made, and in the case of a deduction claimed in respect of a child under Sub-section (2) of the foregoing Section of this Act relating to the deduction in respect of children, or in respect of any person under the foregoing section of this Act relating to the deduction in respect of dependent relatives, shall be given to that one of the married persons by whom the child or relative is maintained; and
  4. (d) For the purpose of any of the above-mentioned allowances or deductions or reliefs a return may be made by the husband or the wife of the total income of the husband and wife; but if the Commissioners of Inland Revenue are not satisfied with the return they may obtain a return from the wife or husband, as the case may be.

(2) The Commissioners of Inland Revenue may require returns for the purposes of this Section to be made at any time, and the provisions of the Income Tax Acts relating to penalties for neglect or refusal to deliver or for delay in delivering true and correct statements of profits or gains shall, with the necessary modifications, apply in the case of the neglect or refusal to make or wilful delay in making any such return.

Motion made, and Question proposed, "That the Clause stand part of the Bill."

Sir D. MACLEAN

I regard this as a minor, but welcome, attempt to start the codification of a complex part of our taxing laws. For the first time for a good many years we have a Clause which contains within the ambit of its own provisions something like a clear statement of the law relating to the right of husband and wife to claim relief separately. I would urge upon the Treasury that this good example should be followed as often as possible. The right of the husband and wife to claim relief separately does not arise here for the first time; it was granted by a previous Statute. I would ask my right hon. Friend whether it would not be possible, in view of the very complex provisions which Income Tax necessarily involves, and in view of the fact that hundreds of thousands of persons are affected by this provision, and that people are often quite unable or unused to get professional assistance, that the Government may take some adequate opportunity of issuing through the Press—not by means of Government pamphlets, which so often do not get further than the issue, and are soon relegated to the dust-bin—a statement showing clearly what the position really is as between the rights of husband and wife to claim relief separately. Clear as this Clause is to the lawyer, it is very difficult of elucidation, as these things must necessarily be, to the lay members of the public, and it would be well if, when this Bill reaches the Statute Book, there should be some means of informing the public as to what are their new rights in relation to Income Tax.

Mr. BALDWIN

I think that my right hon. Friend's request is a reasonable one. I sympathise with him in what he says about the mystery of the language to laymen. There is one Clause in this Bill of which I do not understand a word, but I will not say what it is. I will consider favourably the request which he has made.