§ Mr. HUME - WILLIAMSasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether a soldier on active service abroad should include his wife's separation allowance in a statement of total income for the purposes of a claim to exemption from Income Tax, when throughout the whole Income Tax year he has been at the front except when on leave, and his wife has been in domestic service and has no home of her own; and whether his wife is deemed by the Inland Revenue authorities to be living with her husband within the meaning of the Income Tax Acts under the above circumstances?
§ Mr. BONAR LAWThe separation allowance falls to be included in the statement of total income. I would remind my hon. and learned Friend that the soldier is entitled to the pre-war exemption limit of £160, or abatement of £160, if the total income does not exceed £300. Moreover, in the case suggested, where presumably the total joint income would not exceed £500, although the wife is deemed to be living with her husband, her earnings would be subject to a separate exemption or abatment allowance.