§ 52. Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHYasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is aware of the great number of Income Tax forms distributed to persons who are ineligible to pay Income Tax; and whether anything can be done to prevent this unnecessary distribution, especially where the wages of people are well known from the returns sent in by the employers?
§ Mr. SNOWDENI think that the hon. and gallant Member is under some misapprehension in this matter. The issue of Income Tax forms of return is primarily governed by the law, but such administrative modifications as are practicable under the existing machinery of the Income Tax have been made in order to secure that the number of forms annually issued is reduced to the minimum necessary in the interests of the Exchequer. The hon. and gallant Member will appreciate that individual incomes vary from year to year, and that liability to tax does not depend solely on earnings, but on total income from all sources.