§ 15. Mr. Huntasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer to what extent the recently-agreed nurses' special meal allowance of £48 a year will be subject to tax.
§ Mr. TaverneThis allowance is taxable like the rest of the earnings of nurses and other people.
§ Mr. HuntIs the hon. and learned Gentleman not rather ashamed of that mean and miserly attitude? Why cannot a nurse's meal allowance be treated in the same way as an office worker's luncheon voucher for tax liability?
§ Mr. TaverneThere are two separate questions. One is that of nurses' pay. The second is whether cash allowances of different kinds should be taxable. In some ways, luncheon vouchers are an historical anomaly, though cash allowances to nurses and others have always been regarded as taxable, and this must be the general tax rule.
§ Mr. Arthur LewisMay I take up that last point? Do all people who get meal allowances or cash allowances pay tax? When civil servants get their "out" allowances—and, for that matter, the chairmen of the nationalised boards—do they pay tax? My hon. and learned Friend said that all pay tax.
§ Mr. TaverneEvery cash allowance is taxable unless it is in respect of extra expenses which have to be incurred beyond normal expenses.
§ Sir G. NabarroIs it not the fact that a worker's luncheon voucher is evaluated by the Inland Revenue at 3s. per working diem—that is, 15s. a week, or £39 per annum—and has always been tax-free? Could not the Treasury overcome the difficulty by issuing luncheon vouchers to nurses, and then there would be no excuse for taxing them?
§ Mr. TaverneIt is true that the luncheon voucher is in a separate category and is, to some extent, an historical anomaly which has been strictly restricted. For cash allowances, a different rule prevails, and the allowance is normally larger than the amount of any luncheon voucher.
§ Sir G. NabarroOn a point of Order, Mr. Speaker. In view of the highly unsatisfactory nature of that reply, I beg to give notice that I will seek to raise the matter on the Adjournment.