§ 31. Mr. J. M. Howardasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will make suitable income tax concessions to enable people incurring additional expenses in travelling to and from their work as a result of the railway strike, to claim these expenses as deductions for Income Tax purposes.
§ Mr. H. BrookeNo, Sir.
§ Mr. HowardIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that many business firms hired transport to convey their employees to and from work? Do his officers intend to assess the benefit to those employees? If not, is there not unfair differentiation between one firm and another?
§ Mr. BrookeThat goes rather beyond the scope of the original Question, but the Royal Commission on Taxation of Profits and Income has lately endorsed the standard view that the cost of travelling to work should not be allowed as an Income Tax deduction. We should get into a great deal of trouble if we added a lot of special reliefs for temporary contingencies of this kind.