HC Deb 27 April 1931 vol 251 c1402

I am proposing a change in the machinery for collecting the Income Tax. Collectors of taxes have for a long time claimed that their service should be reorganised under Civil Service conditions. It is my own view—I stated it in the House seven years ago—that this service is in need of comprehensive reform in the interests both of the State and the staff. The collectors have become convinced—and I am clear that they are right—that as a practical matter reorganisation is only possible if the collecting service is placed under a single undivided control. I dissent absolutely from the view that this reform would be injurious to the interests of any taxpayer, great or small. Centralised collection under the Board of Inland Revenue was recommended by the Royal Commission on the Income Tax. It is already in operation for practically the whole of Scotland and Northern Ireland, and for 17 large collecting areas in England and Wales, including aristocratic Bournemouth and industrial Bradford, Bristol, Cardiff, Hull, Halifax, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Southampton. In none of these areas have there been any complaints on the part of the taxpayer. The Finance Bill will, therefore, provide that appointments of collectors will in future vest in the Commissioners of Inland Revenue.