Mr. T. WILSONasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is aware that workmen who have come from the Colonies to work on munitions of war service receive no subsistence allowance and that, although they have left their families in the country that they left, they are being charged Income Tax on their full wages here; and whether, in view of the sacrifices that these men have made, he can see his way to exempt them from Income Tax or allow them to make a substantial deduction from their income as returned for Income Tax purposes for the maintenance of their families?
§ Mr. BONAR LAWIn the case of Colonial workmen who have left their families in their homes in the Colonies an allowance up to 17s. 6d. per week—altogether outside their wages here—is commonly paid, under certain conditions, to their dependants, and this allowance is not included in the calculation of the liability to quarterly Income Tax assessment in respect of the workmen's earnings in this country. In these cases, as in the case of the war munition volunteer, who in certain circumstances receives a subsistence allowance of 2s. 6d. per day, no Income Tax deduction is, of course, allowable in respect of the additional cost of living away from home. Where, 925W however, a workman, whether Colonial or British, is living away from home and receiving no such special allowance (whether paid to him personally or to his dependants) a deduction is made for Income Tax purposes in respect of the actual additional cost of living away from home up to a maximum of 2s. 6d. a day.