§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is satisfied that writers and other artistic creators are treated equally for tax purposes with salaried workers, in view of their gross fluctuations of income from one year to the next; and if he will introduce a progressive averaging of professional income for such creators over periods of seven years at a time.
§ Mr. Peter Rees[pursuant to his reply, 11 July 1980, c. 318]: There are already special provisions enabling authors and artists to spread certain lump sum payments for tax purposes over more than one year. I have noted this suggestion, but in general I believe the better course is to continue our policy of reducing tax rates generally when economic circumstances permit.