§ 60. Mr. Stourtonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if his attention has been drawn to the wide practice of cash business transactions in order to avoid income tax liability; and whether, as a counter-measure to these transactions, he will consider the withdrawal of all currency notes, their proclamation as invalid from a named date, with a maximum of £50 of bank notes convertible to a new issue to be made, any excess currency to be declared by firms or individuals.
§ Sir J. AndersonMy hon. Friend would not, I am sure, suggest that all cash transactions are for the purpose of avoiding 2201 income tax liability. He has no doubt in mind not the cash sale itself but the exclusion of such a transaction from income tax accounts. I can assure him that the Inland Revenue authorities are fully alive to this method of evasion. I do not think the measures suggested in the second part of the Question are either necessary or desirable.
§ Mr. StourtonIs my right hon. Friend aware that a similar plan has been operated successfully in Belgium in checking all shady financial transactions?