§ 1. Mr. Houghtonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many notifications of Bank interest exceeding £15 have been received by the Inland Revenue Department under the provisions of Section 27 of the Finance Act, 1951; in what proportion of cases have the taxpayers concerned failed to return the amount, or the full amount; and what amount of unassessed tax and penalties has already been recovered.
§ The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Mr. John Boyd-Carpenter)Up to 31st March, 1953, about 1,200,000 notifications had been received. In about one-quarter of the cases failure to return the amount or the full amount has been discovered or is suspected. The amount of unassessed tax and penalties so far recovered is about £7 million.
§ Mr. HoughtonHas the hon. Gentleman's right hon. Friend considered the various suggestions which have been made for drawing the attention of all bank depositors to the need to return interest for Income Tax purposes, especially on Post Office Savings Bank deposits, in order to save the painful personal and domestic circumstances which have arisen through tax being demanded so much in arrears?
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterMy right hon. Friend has not only considered the suggestions, but has taken action on certain of them. If the hon. Gentleman would like particulars, I shall be glad to give them to him if he will put down a Question.