HC Deb 23 April 1940 vol 360 c70

I have another change to make in the sphere of direct taxation. As the Committee will be aware, the Surtax payable on 1st January, 1941, for which rates of charge will be laid down in this year's Finance Bill, is payable in respect of income for the year 1939–40. We must distinguish between the rates of charge on Surtax and the field over which Surtax operates. The field over which it operates—that is to say, from £2,000 a year upwards—is determined a year in advance, although the rates of tax are left to be fixed in the year in which the tax is payable. In these circumstances, the field for 1939–40 has already been defined in last year's Finance Act, and I could not justifiably interfere with that. But I cannot allow my hands to be tied indefinitely in this manner. I therefore propose to provide in the Finance Bill and in the appropriate Budget Resolution that Surtax for the year 1940–41, for which the rates will not be laid down until the 1941 Finance Bill, can be charged on incomes in excess of £1,500 per annum instead of on incomes in excess of £2,000. This is an enabling provision, and does not increase the amount of tax payable this year by those with incomes between £1,500 and £2,000, but it makes it possible to do so in 12 months' time. I hope that the Committee follow this complex arrangement.