§ Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received from the Retail Consortium on behalf of the distributive trades about depreciation allowances on the machines needed to deal with decimal currency; and what reply he has sent.
§ Mr. Haseldineasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that, in respect of the distributive trades, which 179W will bear a large share of the work involved in the change to decimal currency, no provision has been made for compensation for the necessary replacement of cash registers and other business machines; and whether he will consider the introduction of an appropriate taxation allowance, such as free depreciation, in respect of such machines.
§ Mr. Harold LeverThe Retail Consortium wrote to the Treasury on 16th July, proposing free depreciation allowances, instead of the present initial and writing down allowances, for machines acquired as a result of currency decimalisation. The proposal is being examined.