§ Sir E. Boyleasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he proposes to continue this year the extra-statutory concession under which Savings Certificates given by employers to employees as Christmas presents in lieu of customary gifts in kind are not charged to income tax.
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§ Mr. R. A. ButlerYes. As the hon. Member will be aware, Christmas bonuses paid to employees are, under the law, liable to Income Tax whether the payment is made in cash or in something such as Savings Certificates which can be turned into cash. An extra-statutory concession was, however, introduced during the war under which tax was not charged on gifts in the form of Savings Certificates, Savings stamps, National Savings gift tokens or direct credits to employees' Savings Bank accounts made to subordinate employees by employers who had previously been in the habit of making Christmas presents in goods of an equivalent value.
I have authorised the application of this concession to gifts made this Christmas, but the special conditions which justified the concession during the war and in post-war years have largely ceased to exist, and I shall not be able to authorise its continuance for future years.