§ 97. Mr. DALTONasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the number of cases, since 1st January, 1919, in which criminal proceedings have been taken, at the in- 1149 stance of the Board of Inland Revenue, against persons charged with making false statements in connection with Income Tax and Super-tax returns, and in how many such cases convictions have been obtained; and what is the total sum which has been recovered for the Treasury as the result of such proceedings?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLSuch proceedings have been taken in 31 cases. In all the cases except two, in which the circumstances were very exceptional, convictions were obtained, and generally terms of imprisonment were imposed. No question arises of recovering taxes by means of such proceedings.
§ 98. Mr. DALTONasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the number of cases since 1st January, 1919, in which, although criminal proceedings have not been taken, the Board of Inland Revenue has taken steps to inspect traders' books of account, with a view to correcting false statements made by ratepayers in connection with their Income Tax and Supertax returns; in how many such cases corrections have been made; and what is the total sum which has been recovered by the Treasury as the result of such corrections?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLThis information is rot available.
§ Mr. DALTONWould it not be possible to obtain the information, in view of the evidence which has come to light of the tendency to dodge taxation in certain sections of the community?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLI am advised that it would not. There is an immense variety of circumstances in which the actual books of account of the trader may be furnished in support of the copies of accounts given to the revenue authorities, and from the nature of the investigations it is impossible to draw a hard-and-fast line such as the hon. Member's question suggests between cases involving deliberate evasion and those of mere negligence or mistake, or those in which the taxpayer of his own initiative produces his books. Exhaustive inquiries of all the tax districts in the country would be necessary in order to ascertain the number of cases in which traders' books have been produced to the Inland Revenue authorities. These inquiries could not be undertaken without seriously disturbing 1150 the current work of the inspectors, and would certainly involve a quite disproportionate expenditure of time and labour.