§ Mr. NEEDHAMasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what rate of interest is to be allowed on payments made to the Exchequer in anticipation of due date on account of Excess Profits Duty; and what procedure has been arranged to provide for adjustment being made in the event of such anticipated payment being over or under the duty actually payable?
§ Mr. McKENNAThe Treasury have prescribed that until further notice the rate of interest to be allowed under the provision referred to shall be 5½ per cent. per annum. The rate will be subject to alteration from time to time in accordance with 1511W variations in the rate of discount at which Treasury Bills for three months are offered to the public, but any such alteration will apply only to deposits made after the alteration has been notified. Where any sum is deposited before an assessment is made, if the amount deposited is greater than the amount which (with interest thereon) is necessary to satisfy the duty, the balance will, at the option of the taxpayer, be repaid to him or be retained to meet any further liability which may arise, and will, in the latter event, carry interest upon being applied in satisfaction of duty. If, on the other hand, the amount deposited together with interest thereon, is inadequate to satisfy the duty, the taxpayer will be notified as to the balance payable.
Where a sum is paid after an assessment has been made but at least a week before the duty is actually due to be paid, the Commissioners of Inland Revenue will be ready, without any special application from the taxpayer, to regard the amount as deposited under the Section referred to, and to make at once a repayment of the excess sum deposited, equivalent in amount to the interest which is allowable.