HC Deb 05 December 1922 vol 159 cc1546-7W
Sir K. FRASER

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is aware that many proprietors of Highland estates have of late years had to pay rates and taxes which exceed the actual rents received; that they have also to pay for the upkeep of their property; and that they are at the same time taxed, and in some cases super-taxed, as if they were in receipt of income from their estates, with the result that a Highland estate which is entirely agricultural and pastoral, with incidental rente that may be obtained from the shootings and fishing, is not an asset but a liability to the owner; and whether, seeing that it is impossible for the present owners to continue to pay the present rates and taxes, he proposes to take any steps to deal with the matter?

Mr. BALDWIN

I fear that I cannot deal with all the points raised in the question within the limits of a Parliamentary answer, but I would refer my hon. Friend to the provisions included in this year's Finance Act, which repre- sented the full extent of the concessions in respect of taxation which it was felt practicable to afford under existing conditions, and to the Debates in this House during the passage of that Act.