§ Mr. GIBSON BOWLESasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many collectors of taxes there are in the Metropolitan district and in the United Kingdom, respectively; are they members of the permanent Civil Service; are they paid by salary alone, or do they receive any commission, and, if so, what, on the taxes they collect; what is the objection to allowing the taxpayer to pay his taxes direct to the Commissioners of Customs and Excise, instead of being required to pay them through a local collector of taxes; and is a payment to the collector of taxes as full, efficient, and final a payment as though it were made direct to the Commissioners themselves, or would the tax be again required from the taxpayer 885W in case of default made in its payment to the Commissioners by the collector?
§ Mr. LLOYD GEORGEThe answer to the first part of the question is that there are 300 collectors of taxes for the metropolitan district, and 7,870 for the United Kingdom respectively. With regard to the second and third parts, with the exception of sixty-eight collectors of Customs and Excise (who act as collectors of taxes in certain cases), the collectors are not members of the permanent Civil Service. They are paid by fixed salary, and not by commission. As regards the fourth part, there is no machinery provided by the Income Tax Acts empowering the Commissioners of Customs and Excise to receive taxes direct; and, consequently, the fifth part of the question does not arise.