§ 30. Mr. John Hallasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if, when introducing a new tax, an estimate is made of the cost of collection.
§ The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr. James Callaghan)Yes, Sir, so far as this is practicable.
§ Mr. HallIn that case, can the right hon. Gentleman say, as he has not been able to say before, what is the cost of collecting Capital Gains Tax? Would he not agree that the cost of assessing and collecting the tax is a very high percentage of the total revenue?
§ Mr. CallaghanNo, Sir. I cannot give a figure, because the officials who examine the Income Tax returns for the purposes of assessment examine at the same time the liability for Capital Gains Tax and it would not be easy to distinguish the two from each other.