§ 69. Sir ROBERT SANDERSasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the amount of receipts under the Betting Duty which has accrued from racing that took place during the week ending 26th March?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLI regret that the information requested is not available. It is never possible to state the yield of the Betting Duty in respect of horse racing which takes place in any particular period, as the receipts of duty in a given period have no necessary relation to the events occurring therein. The duty on bets in connection with any event may be paid in part well in advance by the purchase of revenue tickets and in part in arrear under the returns arrangement. Moreover, the betting revenue cannot be allocated to various forms of sport, e.g., horse racing, coursing, dog racing and athletic meetings.
Sir F. HALLSeeing that the anticipations of the Government have not been 1421 reached, does the right hon. Gentleman propose to make any alteration in the forthcoming Budget?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLI would rather deal with that when the time comes, but I really have not attempted to conceal my opinion that the tax ought to have a fair trial during the flat racing season.
§ Mr. LOOKERDoes the right hon. Gentleman not consider that he would get at least as much from the totalisator as from the Betting Duty?