§ 6. Mr. Meacherasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will propose the reintroduction of Schedule A tax.
§ Mr. Patrick JenkinNo, Sir.
§ Mr. MeacherIs the hon. Gentleman aware that because there is no Schedule A tax and no capital gains tax on excessive rises in house prices, the average executive earning over £5,000 a year has gained about £14,000 in untaxed housing capital gains under the present Government while during exactly the same period the average tenant has been forced to pay an average of 30p a week more in rents? Is this not a grotesque inequality, as offensive to the Chancellor as the land speculation of which he purports to disapprove? When will he stop this and land speculation?
§ Mr. JenkinI cannot see how it would conceivably help the tenant to hit at the position of the owner-occupier. To re-impose the old Schedule A—there is a new Schedule A on rents—would hit at the expansion of owner-occupation, something which has been supported on both sides of the House, would impose new burdens on existing owner-occupiers, would impose a much greater burden on those who have paid off their mortgages, many of whom will be elderly retired people, and would require a large number of extra Revenue officials. It would be interesting to know whether that is the policy of the Labour Party.
§ Mr. JayIf the hon. Gentleman will not do as my hon. Friend asks, will he at least set a ceiling for tax relief on mortgage interest since this is becoming a scandal and is one of the main causes of the present high price of houses?
§ Mr. JenkinThe position of tax relief on mortgage interest is exactly as it was left by our predecessors in June 1960.
§ Mr. David StoddartIf the Minister will not agree to either of these proposals will he try to bring some fairness into the system as between owner-occupiers and rent-payers, who do not draw a subsidy from any source, by allowing rent-payers to set a proportion of their rent against tax?
§ Mr. JenkinThat is a wholly different question.