§ 6. Mr. Rossiasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he will give a break-down of his estimate of the total cost of the assessment and collection of Betterment Levy in 1968–69.
§ Mr. MacDermotI would refer the hon. Member to the Civil Estimates.
§ Mr. RossiIs the hon. and learned Gentleman not aware that the cost of collection over the ensuing year will be 5s. 6d. in the £ as against a revenue cost of 3.28d.? Does this not teach him some lesson or other?
§ Mr. MacDermotI do not know what the hon. Gentleman means by a revenue cost of 3.28d. If he is referring to the cost of collection of Income Tax, that, of course, is a very cheap tax to collect. There are other taxes, many of them of great social importance, whose cost of collection is much greater. In any event, when a new tax is imposed the cost of collection is always high until it reaches 900 its full effect. For the reasons which I have given earlier, it will be some years before that is the case in relation to the Betterment Levy.