§ Mr. R. McLARENasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if his attention has been called to the number of work- 2039W men who have been summoned to the courts in Scotland for non-payment of Income Tax; whether such workmen are pleading want of employment as the cause for non-payment; whether the sheriffs, while granting decree for sums sued for, are granting time for payment; and whether, under these circumstances, he will issue instructions to Income Tax collectors to extend the time for payment and thus save the workmen expenses incurred in court proceedings?
Mr. CHAMBERLAINI am aware that in Scotland, as in other parts of the United Kingdom, a number of manual wage-earners have been summoned for non-payment of Income Tax. It was realised that in some cases the default in payment of the tax would be due to want of employment, and instructions were issued some time ago to the local Inspectors of Taxes to use every effort to ascertain whether defaulters are out of employment or working short time before proceedings for recovery of the tax are authorised.