§ Now, for the figures. Total revenue in 1954–55 amounted to £4,738 million, which is £205 million more than my Budget estimate. Inland Revenue duties were £2,541 million, or £157 million more than the estimate of £2,384 million. About half of this excess came from Income Tax, which yielded £1,893 million against the estimate of £1,800 million. The yield from profits assessed under Schedule D was about £40 million above the estimate, and P.A.Y.E. on wages and salaries brought in £50 million more than was expected—which reflects, among other things, the rapid increase in employment and industrial activity which we have achieved this year.
§ The other main contributors to the higher yield were death duties, stamp duties and Excess Profits Levy, which showed increases of £24 million, £20 million and £16 million, respectively, over the estimates. The first two, death duties and stamps, are due mainly to the rise in Stock Exchange prices over the year; the last, Excess Profits Levy, is due to 42 the clearing up of difficulties which had delayed assessments. Profits Tax and Surtax were very close to their estimates.
§ These high yields of Inland Revenue are matched by the performance of the Customs and Excise duties. These amounted to £1,872 million, £90 million above the estimate. About half of this increase is accounted for by Purchase Tax, which produced £342 million, or £47 million more than I estimated, a striking indication of the rising level of demand, particularly for cars and durable consumer goods of all kinds.
§ Tobacco produced a revenue of no less than £650 million, or £17 million above the estimate. Beer, wines and spirits yielded a total of £390 million, £9 million more than the estimate, though the Committee should note that within this satisfactory total beer was down by £4 million. Receipts from the duties under the Import Duties Act, 1932, were above expectations, yielding a total of £62 million, or £6 million over the estimate.
§ Non-tax revenue was lower than my estimate—£246 million, compared with £290 million. Smaller receipts from sales of the Ministry of Food's stocks are the main reason for this change.