§ 61. Mr. Thorneasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he can give any information in connection with the negotiations between the Inland Revenue Department and the National Union of Seamen for the "Pay-as-you-go" Income Tax scheme for the men in the Merchant Navy; and when the scheme will come into operation?
§ The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Sir Kingsley Wood)As the answer is rather long. I will, with my hon. Friend's permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Following is the answer:
§ Owing to the system governing the payment of wages in the Merchant Navy, it has not been found generally practicable to apply the ordinary deduction scheme to members of the Merchant Navy. Negotiations are in progress between the Board of Inland Revenue and the National Maritime Board with a view to devising arrangements for deduction of tax suit-able to the special conditions. Under the proposed scheme, tax will be deducted from the wages paid at the end of a voyage on a scale varying according to the amount of the seaman's wages and his personal circumstances. The scheme, however, is not a "Pay-as-you-go" scheme as that expression is ordinarily understood. Thus, the tax deductions to be made from the 1st November next, when the scheme is expected to come into operation, will be primarily in respect of the tax due for the year 1943/44, ending 5th April, 1944, which will have been assessed in the usual way. This arrangement with regard to the deduction period corresponds to that in force for the ordinary employee assessed yearly under Schedule E, whose deductions in respect of the tax assessed on him for 1943/44 will begin on 1st November next and continue till the following October.