HC Deb 14 April 1953 vol 514 cc62-5

1. Hops, etc. and beer (Customs)

Motion made, That the period for which the following duties of customs are chargeable (which expires on the fifteenth day of August, nineteen hundred and fifty-three) shall be extended by four years, namely:—

  1. (a) the duties now chargeable by virtue of subsection (1) of section three of the Finance Act, 1949, on hops, hop oil and extracts, essences or other similar preparations made from hops; and
  2. (b) the additional duty now chargeable in respect of beer by virtue of that subsection.—[Mr. Butler.]

The CHAIRMAN put the Question thereupon forthwith, pursuant to Standing Order No. 86 (Ways and Means Motions and Resolutions).

Question agreed to.

The CHAIRMAN then proceeded successively to put forthwith the Question on each further Motion made by a Minister of the Crown, save the last Motion.

2. Mechanical lighters (Customs)

Resolved, That, as from the first day of May, nineteen hundred and fifty-three:—

  1. (a) subject to the provisions of this Resolution, the duty of customs charged under section six of the Finance Act, 1928, shall cease to be charged on component parts of mechanical lighters, but shall be charged on mechanical lighters imported incomplete as well as complete;
  2. (b) section two hundred and twenty-two of the Customs and Excise Act, 1952 (which provides for treating as incomplete mechanical lighters for the purposes of excise duty prescribed components of such lighters and assemblies including such components) shall apply for the purposes of the duty of customs charged as aforesaid as it applies for the purposes of excise duty;
  3. (c) for the purposes of the said section two hundred and twenty-two as applied as aforesaid, the prescribed component of a mechanical lighter, other than a lighter appearing to the Commissioners of Customs and Excise to be constructed solely for the purpose of igniting gas for domestic use, shall, until otherwise provided by an order under subsection (2) of that section, be the body; and
  4. (d) so much of subsection (1) of section two hundred and twenty-one of the Customs 63 and Excise Act, 1952 (which enables the said Commissioners to make regulations for the purpose of regulating the manufacture of mechanical lighters) as relates to imported wheels for striking a flint shall cease to have effect, and any regulations in force under that subsection on the said first day of May shall have effect accordingly; but no duty of customs shall be charged on such wheels delivered without payment of duty by virtue of those regulations before that day and accounted for to the satisfaction of the said Commissioners.
And it is hereby declared that it is expedient in the public interest that this Resolution should have statutory effect under the provisions of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1913.

3. Entertainments duty (amateur sports and entertainments)

Resolved, That—

  1. (a) entertainments duty shall not be charged on payments for admission to an entertainment held after the twenty-sixth day of April, nineteen hundred and fifty-three which consists solely of games, races or other sports, being an entertainment to which, apart from this provision, the second scale of duty would be applicable, where the Commissioners of Customs and Excise are satisfied—
    1. (i) that the entertainment is provided by a society, institution or committee established and conducted for the promotion and furtherance of amateur games or sports and not conducted or established for profit; and
    2. (ii) that no payment is made or reward given for the participation of any person in any game, race or other sport constituting the entertainment or part of the entertainment, other than prizes of a reasonable number and value competed for and won by individuals taking part therein;
  2. (b) for the purposes of section ten of the Finance Act, 1949 (which exempts certain amateur theatrical and other entertainments from duty) an entertainment held after the date aforesaid shall not be deemed not to be an amateur entertainment by reason only that any payment is made or reward given for the services of any person as instructor, producer, manager, or in any advisory capacity
And it is hereby declared that it is expedient in the public interest that this Resolution should have statutory effect under the provisions of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1913.

4. Entertainments duty (cricket matches)

Resolved, That cricket matches played after the twenty-sixth day of April, nineteen hundred and fifty-three shall be excluded from the entertainments in respect of which entertainments duty is payable, and references in the enactments relating to that duty to an entertainment shall be construed accordingly. And it is hereby declared that it is expedient in the public interest that this Resolution should have statutory effect under the provisions of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1913.

5. Entertainments duty (lump sum payments)

Resolved, That the following provisions shall have effect with respect to payments for admission to entertainments all of which are held after the twenty-sixth day of April, nineteen hundred and fifty-three, that is to say:—

  1. (a) where payment for admission to two or more such entertainments is made by means of a lump sum within the meaning of subsection (4) of section one of the Finance (New Duties) Act, 1916, and the Commissioners of Customs and Excise are satisfied—
    1. (i) that the lump sum constitutes full payment for admission to each of the entertainments in respect of which it is paid; and
    2. (ii) that all of those entertainments arc to take place within a period of one year,
    the amount of the duty to be charged under the said section one in respect of that sum shall be an amount equal to the aggregate of the amounts (if any) which would be charged by way of duty if separate payments were made for admission to each of those entertainments, being payments of such amounts as appear to the said Commissioners to be proportionate respectively to the values of the rights of admission to those entertainments, and of which the aggregate is equal to the said lump sum;
  2. (b) where payment for admission to two or more such entertainments is made by means of a single payment representing the aggregate of separate prices of admission to those entertainments respectively, and not being a lump sum within the meaning of the said subsection (4), and the said Commissioners are of opinion that the said prices of admission as taken for the purpose of arriving at the single payment are not substantially proportionate to the respective values of the rights of admission to the entertainments to which they relate, they may direct that the amount of the duty to be charged under the said section one in respect of the said payment shall be ascertained in accordance with the provisions of the foregoing paragraph as if that payment were a payment to which that paragraph applies, and those provisions shall have effect accordingly; and
  3. (c) section three of the Finance Act, 1944 (which relates to the amount of entertainments duty chargeable on a lump sum payment) shall cease to have effect.
And it is hereby declared that it is expedient in the public interest that this Resolution should have statutory effect under the provisions of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1913.

Forward to