§ Mr. LYONasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that, in certain circumstances, any excess over a pre-war wage of £2 per week for whole-time service can be held liable for Excess Profits Duty; and whether he sees his way clear to mitigate this hardship by extending Section 26 (4) of the Finance Act, 1917, to include such cases as well as those of a one-man business?
Mr. CHAMBERLAINThe scheme of the Excess Profits Duty is to charge with duty the profits of a business, so far as, after allowance of the various statutory reliefs, they still exceed the pre-war standard of profits. Those reliefs include an allowance of £200 granted in every case, as well as a special allowance under the Sub-section mentioned in the question, designed to meet the case of small businesses. Alternative methods for computing the pre-war standard are provided by the Statute imposing the Excess Profits Duty; and while it is possible that the pre-war standard of a business might in some circumstances not exceed the figure quoted by the hon. Member, I would remind him that (apart from any other reliefs applicable to the case) there would be added to such pre-war standard, before computing the excess chargeable to duty,(a) the statutory allowance of £200, and (b) any allowance which may be due under the provisions of Section 26 (4) of the Finance Act, 1917.