HC Deb 20 February 1934 vol 286 cc177-8
56. Mr. SUMMERSBY

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he is able to indicate the proportion of the business done by co-operative societies, retail and wholesale, with non-members during the last year for which figures are available?

The FINANCIAL SECRETARY to the TREASURY (Mr. Hore-Belisha)

The official form of return which Industrial and Provident Societies are required to send annually to the Chief Registrar of Friendly Societies shows the total sales of the societies without any apportionment as between members and non-members, respectively. I am therefore unable to give my hon. Friend the information he desires.

Mr. SUMMERSBY

Are any steps being taken in this connection?

Mr. HORE-BELISHA

If my hon. Friend will forward any suggestions, together with the advantages which are likely to accrue, I am sure they will receive consideration.

Sir WILLIAM DAVISON

Is it not most desirable that the House and the public should know how much mutuality there is in this matter and how much members of the ordinary general public who are not co-operators subscribe towards finding this dividend which is free from tax?

Mr. HORE-BELISHA

Income Tax is payable equally on profits from members and non-members. If the hon. Member has any suggestion to make I shall be only too happy to consider it.

51. Mr. SUMMERSBY

(for Sir PHILIP DAWSON): asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the actual surplus accruing to retail co-operative societies in 1932; the total amount of tax for which these societies were assessed for the corresponding financial year; and the amount that would have been paid by a normal trading concern making equivalent profits?

Mr. CHAMBERLAIN

My hon. Friend will find particulars of the trading of the retail co-operative societies, showing the surplus derived therefrom, in Part III of the Annual Reports of the Chief Registrar of Friendly Societies. I am not in a position to say how much Income Tax has been paid by the retail societies, but as my hon. Friend is no doubt aware the Committee of Inquiry into the position of the co-operative societies in relation to Income Tax give in the Minutes of Evidence and their Report (Command Paper 4260) estimates for the whole co-operative movement of the amount of Income Tax paid before the law was altered in 1933 and the amount now payable following last year's legislation.

It would be impossible to make any comparison of the nature suggested in the concluding part of the question. Apart from the difficulty of deciding what is to be considered a normal trading concern it has to be borne in mind that in so far as profits are the income of any individual the yield of Income Tax depends not only on the amount of the profits, but also on his total income and family responsibilities.