HC Deb 30 November 1916 vol 88 c503W
Mr. KING

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether at the present rate of national expenditure the estimate made in his last Budget statement of 1,826 millions as the total year's expenditure will be exceeded by about 130 millions; and, if so, whether it is intended to introduce new taxation at an early date, or whether the estimate of the yield of taxation has been so largely exceeded in results that no further new taxation is at present necessitated?

Mr. McKENNA

Having regard to the present rate of national expenditure I anticipate (as was explained by the Prime Minister in his statement on the 11th October and by me on the 19th October) that the Budget Estimate of the expenditure for the current year will be materially exceeded, but I am hardly in a position at the present date to forecast exactly how much the excess is likely to prove.

In answer to the last part of the question, I do not contemplate proposing fresh taxation at the present time. Until next quarter I shall not be in a position to estimate with any accuracy how the yield of the taxation for the current year, and particularly the yield of the Income Tax, will compare with the forecasts.