§ 55. Sir Servington Savery (for Sir Arnold Gridley)asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what sum he estimates would accrue in the financial year ending 3rst March, 1938, if one-third of the profits earned in that year by industrial and trading companies in excess of those earned in the previous year were paid into the Exchequer?
§ Lieut.-Colonel ColvilleI regret I cannot furnish the estimate which my hon. Friend desires. I would point out that the taxation of profits proceeds, not by reference to the financial or fiscal year, but by reference to the trader's accounting year ending in the fiscal year, and that the proceeds accruing to the Exchequer before 31st March, 1938, of any tax levied on the profits of trading years ending in that year, must necessarily be very small, for in many cases there would be no time available to assess and collect the tax.