§ 15. Mr. Emrys Hughesasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in view of the public disquiet about expenses incurred by company directors, if he will move to set up a Select Committee to consider and report on this question before the next Budget.
§ Mr. H. BrookeNo, Sir. This matter has only recently been fully reviewed by the Royal Commission on the Taxation of Profits and Income.
§ Mr. HughesDoes the Minister never read the papers? Is he aware that nearly every intelligent reader of the newspapers is asking how Sir Bernard Docker gets away with this idea that these expenses constitute legitimate expenses? Does the Minister connive at the idea that super-luxury cars sent by special aeroplane to the Riviera constitute a legitimate business expense?
§ Mr. BrookeI thought the hon. Member would know that expense allowances and benefits in kind to a director or highly-paid employee are not free of tax unless they are proved to have been necessary. I have a feeling that the hon. Member is trying to tempt me to do what I am not allowed to do—make reference to the affairs of an individual taxpayer.
§ Mr. JayDo not the practices now revealed as going on within the B.S.A. Company amount to a fraud on shareholders, workers and honest taxpayers? Is it not the duty of the Government to protect the honest taxpayer?
§ Mr. BrookeMy responsibility is for the enforcement of the tax law. That, I can assure the right hon. Gentleman, we are enforcing.