§ 103. Captain WATERHOUSEasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the revenue derived from the Land Tax in the last completed financial year and the cost of collection?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLThe net receipt of the Land Tax for the year 1924–25 was £721,706. I regret that it is not possible to distinguish the cost of collection of 718 this tax from the cost of the duties of the Inland Revenue Department generally, as the administration of the Land Tax is inseparably bound up with that of other duties. The amount of fiscal machinery maintained for the special purpose of the Land Tax and involving expenditure is, however, very small.
§ Captain WATERHOUSEWill the right hon. Gentleman consider the advisability of doing away with this tax, which falls chiefly upon the occupiers as distinct from the owners?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLI am informed that this tax has operated since 1590. I should, therefore, approach any question of changing it with a proper sense of reverence.