Entertainments Duty (Amateur Societies)

HC Deb 15 July 1947 vol 440 cc20-1W

Sir P. Macdonald

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that the Customs and Excise authorities have ruled that the Newport, Isle of Wight, Amateur Musical and Dramatic Society, is not a society which is partly educational and that it cannot accordingly qualify for freedom from Entertainment Duty under Section 8 of the Finance Act, 1946; whether this ruling is being applied to all amateur dramatic and operatic societies throughout the country; and on what grounds it has been decided that the work of such societies is not educational

Mr. Dalton

The answer to the first part of the Question is "Yes," and to the second and third parts that societies which only produce revivals of musical comedies cannot he regarded as partly educational.