§ 10.26 p.m.
§ The Minister of State, Treasury (Mr. John Nott)I beg to move,
That an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty, praying that the Double Taxation Relief (Taxes on Income) (Zambia) Order 1972 be made in the form of the draft laid before this House on 8th August.It gives me pleasure to bring before the House a new double taxation convention with Zambia. This convention will replace the agreement that was made in 1956 with the former Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland and continued in force with Zambia after independence.This new convention with Zambia follows the general pattern of our recent conventions, with which the House will be familiar, and I do not propose to take up the time of the House by going into a detailed summary of all the articles in the order.
I should, however, like to mention one point, and that is that this is probably the last convention to be negotiated and signed before the enactment of the corporation tax reforms in this year's Finance Act. My hon. Friend the Chief Secretary said during the debate on the Third Reading of the Finance Bill that in the next year or so the Inland Revenue would be renegotiating the material parts of existing conventions to fit the new imputation system of corporation tax. The relevant orders will come before the House in due course.
I hope that this new double taxation convention will meet with the approval of the House. If there are any particular points which any hon. Member wishes to raise I shall, with the leave of the House, do my best to answer him.
§ Question put and agreed to.