HC Deb 05 July 1966 vol 731 cc240-2
27. Mr. Winnick

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations have been received from charities, social service and voluntary organisations over the Selective Employment Tax.

Mr. Callaghan

Quite a number. The point has been met by providing for repayment of the tax paid in the Selective Employment Payments Bill.

Mr. Winnick

Is the Chancellor aware that there is a great deal of satisfaction among many charities that they are to be exempt from the Selective Employment Tax? Would it be possible to look again at the question of them having to pay the tax in the first place, since a number of charities will have the problem of raising the money even though it is to be refunded later?

Mr. Callaghan

I should have thought that my hon. Friend would have been present in the Chamber when we had exhaustive debates on this matter. It was made quite clear then that if we use this system, which is very economical in manpower, as has been revealed earlier this afternoon, there is no possibility of exempting charities from the initial payment. I must repeat that when the charities came to see me, they emphasised that it was not the money that was so important as the principle of being exempt from taxation.

Mr. Ramsden

Has the Chancellor had representations on behalf the London Library which, although not strictly a charity, is fairly akin to many charities in view of the educational character of its work?

Mr. Callaghan

Not only have I had representations but the matter has been debated during the Committee stage of the Finance Bill.

33. Mr. Philip Noel-Baker

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the United Nations Association is to be treated as a charitable institution for purposes of the Selective Employment Tax.

Mr. Diamond

The Bill now before Parliament provides for the repayment of the Selective Employment Tax to charities as defined under existing law. It is not for me to decide whether an individual body is a charity.

Mr. Noel-Baker

Will my right hon. Friend consider amendments, if they are required, which will make it quite certain that the United Nations Association will not be made to pay this tax?

Mr. Diamond

My right hon. Friend put down a Question about charities which I have answered quite clearly. I can only repeat that it is not for me to decide whether an individual body is a charity. In the final result, that is for the courts.

Mr. Noel-Baker

May I press my right hon. Friend on this matter? if the Government take a large sum from the United Nations Association, which will in great measure cripple its work, while they are paying more than the total budget of the Association to salesmen to propagate the sale of war machinery throughout the world, many people will feel that this is quite wrong.

Mr. Diamond

I can assure my right hon. Friend that there is no need for anxiety about any tax which the Government propose crippling the work of this excellent organisation.

Mr. Iain Macleod

Without anticipating the discussions which we shall have on a future Bill in Committee, is the right hon. Gentleman really saying that all these matters must go to the courts? Is it not possible to find a method of deciding whether what one might call the fringe charity is a charity or not, perhaps within the discretion of the Minister? Will the right hon. Gentleman look into this matter?

Mr. Diamond

Certainly. The right hon. Gentleman is quite right in the sense that it is for the Charity Commissioners or for the Secretary of State for Education and Science or, in Scotland, the Secretary of State for Scotland to say whether any body is a charity under existing law. Only when there is dispute about that would appeal to the courts lie.