§ Commander BELLAIRSasked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury the number of persons liable to Income Tax and the approximate numbers who will, in practice, be exempted under the various allowances made, including those proposed in the new Budget?
Mr. GUINNESS:The estimated number of individuals with income above the effective exemption limit (2135 of assessable income) was, for the year 192324, 5,000,000, of whom 2,400,000 actually paid tax, the remaining 2,600,000 being entirely relieved from tax by the operation of personal allowances, etc. These estimates are subject to revision. I am not yet in a position to furnish similar estimates for any later year, but I anticipate that the effect of the Budget proposal for an increased allowance in respect of earned income will be to exempt at least 250,000 individuals who would otherwise pay tax