§ Mr. L. SCOTTasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what diminution in the yield of the Excess Profits Duty would result if all businesses started since the Armistice were excluded, or the relief provided under Section 26, Sub-section 4, of the. Finance Act, 1917, were extended by the substitution of £5,000 for £2,000 and 1s. 2d. for 1s. 5d.?
Mr. CHAMBERLAINAs regards the first part of my hon. and learned Friend's question, I cannot undertake to discriminate between businesses started before and after the Armistice respectively, and no estimate is available of the loss of duty involved in the adoption of such a proposal. The diminution of the yield of the Excess Profits Duty consequent upon an extension of the relief provided by the Finance Act, 1917, on the lines which my hon. Friend seems to suggest in the second part of his question might amount to some £15,000,000 in a full year.