Mr. GEORGE LLOYDasked the Secretary to the Treasury whether, in computing the profits upon which Income Tax is payable under Schedule D in respect of letting furnished houses, any reduction may be made on account of the sum paid as Income Tax in respect of the same houses under Schedule A; if so, whether he is aware that the surveyor of taxes at Guildford in March, 1913, declined to admit any such reduction in the case of a taxpayer in his district who specifically inquired in writing if it was admissible; if so, whether the taxpayer in question was obliged to apply to the Board of Inland Revenue in order to secure repayment of the amount of tax illegally levied by the surveyor at Guildford; if so, whether the surveyor at Guildford has been suitably reprimanded; and what steps are to be taken to protect the public against similar misleading directions and illegal exactions in future on the part both of surveyors of taxes in general and of the surveyor of taxes at Guildford in particular?
Mr. MASTER MANThe reply to the first of the question is that, in computing liability under Schedule D of the Income Tax Acts, in respect of the profits of letting a furnished house, an allowance may be made for the proportion of the annual value of the house (chargeable under Schedule A) corresponding to the period932W for which the house was let furnished. I have caused inquiry to be made into the case to which I understand the hon. Member to refer, and, while I note that a mistake was made for which regret has been expressed, I do not think that the facts justify the implication contained in the latter part of the question.