§ Mr. MALLALIEUasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will relieve the clergy from the payment of Income Tax on the Easter and free-will offerings of their own people?
Mr. CHAMBERLAINThe law on this subject was defined by a judgment of the House of Lords in 1908 in the case of Cooper against Blakiston. A Clause to exempt these offerings from Income Tax was moved in the course of the Finance Bill of 1912, and was rejected on a Division. In present circumstances, and pending the investigations of the Royal Commission which is now sitting, I cannot see my way to propose relief from the ordinary operation of the Income Tax in favour of income from this particular source.