HC Deb 27 April 1931 vol 251 c1408

The three sources of income which I have mentioned, namely, the Exchange Account, the revised arrangement for the collection of Schedule B, D and E of Income Tax, and the increase in the Oil Duty will yield together £37,500,000, which will give me the sum I need to balance the Budget. The balance sheet for the current year will thus be,

Revenue £803,500,000
Expenditure £803,366,000
leaving a nominal margin of £134,000.

I have made no provision for supplementary expenditure. It would be contrary to all experience if no item should arise during the year calling for a Supplementary Estimate. If prosperity should return, it may well be that a margin will be found in the form of a yield from taxation in excess of the forecasts I have made. Apart from this, I definitely contemplate that any gap which occurs in the finance of the year should be met by economy, and for that reason I shall anxiously await the recommendation of the committee which is at this moment examining the field of national expenditure on the instruction of all parties in the House of Commons.

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