43. Mr. Vaneasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what grounds shredding and pressing machines, used by amateur tobacco growers in the preparation of their cured leaf, have recently been made subject to Purchase Tax.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterThese machines are taxed under Group 12 of the Eighth Schedule to the Finance Act, 1948. They have only recently been marketed on a commercial scale.
Mr. VaneWill my hon. Friend see whether this Purchase Tax can be reduced, and, further, will he look into the means whereby the amateur tobacco grower could save this country dollars; at the present moment he is operating under a set of rules which amount almost to persecution?
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterThe marketing of these machines on the present commercial scale is itself an indication of the success of the concession to the amateur tobacco growers and an indication of the extent to which that concession is fully used.