HC Deb 31 May 1960 vol 624 cc1252-3
Mr. Barber

I beg to move, in page 45, line 28, at the end to insert: (5) A certificate by the General or Special Commissioners that the tax or a specified part of the tax charged by an assessment specified in the certificate carries interest under this section from a date so specified shall be sufficient evidence of that fact in proceedings for the recovery of that interest. (6) A certificate under subsection (5) of this section shall not be given except on the application of the surveyor or a person nominated for that purpose by the Commissioners of Inland Revenue, and on any such application the person charged by the assessment (or, if he has died, his personal representatives) shall be entitled to appear and be heard. The Amendment enables an inspector of taxes or another person nominated by the Commissioners of Inland Revenue to apply to the General or Special Commissioners for a certificate that tax charged by assessment, or a specified part of the tax, carries interest under the Clause. Under the Amendment, the Revenue will be entitled in future, before starting recovery proceedings, to apply to the Commissioners concerned for a certificate that the assessment carries interest. The taxpayer will be entitled to appear and to be heard on such application and the certificate will then rank as prima facie evidence of the facts stated in it, but not as conclusive evidence. It will be open to the taxpayer, if he wants, to question this procedure in any court proceedings.

Mr. Houghton

My only comment is that it seems to be a lot of procedure and apparatus just to get interest at 3 per cent.

Amendment agreed to.

Motion made, and Question proposed, That the Clause, as amended, stand part of the Bill.

Mr. Houghton

On this question of 3 per cent., I thought that interest rates were going up and that house purchasers are having to pay more than 3 per cent. The Bank Rate has been put up and hire-purchase restrictions have been imposed. Is it not time to ask people who have been withholding their tax to pay a little more in interest? I know that this is tied up with the rate of interest chargeable under Section 495 of the Income Tax Act, 1952, but there is no reason why both should not go up and no reason why this should not be higher, even though the other remains at 3 per cent.

The other 3 per cent. is chargeable on tax assessed and remaining unpaid for more than three months after the due date. We will let them get away with that, but there is no reason why persons covered by Part III of the Bill should pay at only 3 per cent. If we let the Clause go without dividing against it, it must not be taken that we approve of 3 per cent. It is time to ask people to pay the current rate of interest on money which they have been withholding and which probably they have been putting to other use, making untaxed profit on it.

Mr. Barber

The hon. Member for Sowerby (Mr. Houghton) is quite right in saying that we are fallowing Section 495 of the Income Tax Act, 1952, but it is fair to say that before including the Provision in the Bill for 3 per cent. interest my right hon. Friend considered what rate of interest would be appropriate in present circumstances. One of the factors which he took into account was that interest paid under these provisions at 3 per cent. is interest from which tax cannot be deducted. Consequently, considering the situation of a person paying Income Tax at the standard rate and fairly heavy Surtax, I hope that the hon. Member for Sowerby will agree that 3 per cent. is not so small.

Mr. Houghton

I do not agree, but we will let it go.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clauses 55 to 57 ordered to stand part of the Bill.