§ The changes which will be proposed this year in the Inland Revenue are mainly mechanical, and do not appreciably add to the burden on the taxpayer. I strike that note of reassurance at the outset. The Excess Profits Duty, although it was repealed five years ago, is not yet closed. It is still open to the Board of Inland Revenue or to any taxpayer to challenge any assessment which may be found to have been wrongly made. The tax was charged at a very high rate in a period of great emergency, and an opportunity for re-examining it and for re-reckoning was necessary; but, after all these years, I 1704 feel that an adequate opportunity has been given to both sides, and a Clause has been framed which will bring the uncertainty to an end and close the assessment on either side once and for all. At the same time, legislation will be required to validate a view of the law on a technical point affecting the computation of capital for the purposes of Excess Profits Duty which, although it has passed un disputed for 10 years, is now at this late date called into question.