HC Deb 13 June 1966 vol 729 cc1005-6
1. Mr. Rippon

asked the Minister of Land and Natural Resources what is his estimate of the net yield of the betterment levy on the transactions in law of the kind set out in Cases A to E of the Land Commission Bill.

2. Mr. Boyd-Carpenter

asked the Minister of Land and Natural Resources whether he will now make a statement setting out his calculations as to the expected net yield in a full year of the levy proposed in last Session's Land Commission Bill.

The Minister of Land and Natural Resources (Mr. Frederick Willey)

I estimate the gross yield of the betterment levy at 40 per cent. in a full year to be about £80 million. The levy will affect the amount which would otherwise be collected under existing taxes, but information is not available upon which to base an estimate of its extent because these taxes are assessed on quite a different basis and are subject to different exemptions.

Mr. Rippon

Is it not extraordinary that the Minister should seek to levy a tax when he has no idea at all of its net yield? Is the position that he does not know—in which case will he undertake to give the Committee some indication of the position—or is it simply that he dare not say what the yield will be because it might be thought to be derisory in comparison with the complexities of collecting it?

Mr. Willey

I can allay the right hon. and learned Gentleman's anxieties. The net yield will be substantial. That is quite clear. But we cannot go further than this and make a detailed estimate for the reasons that I have given.

Mr. Boyd-Carpenter

If the right hon. Gentleman cannot give the House even an approximate figure of the net yield, how does he know that it is substantial enough to justify the very high cost of collecting it?

Mr. Willey

I have said that it is substantial—one can reach that conclusion—but one cannot go further and particularise because of the different bases of Corporation Tax and Capital Gains Tax and the different exemptions.