§ Lord Underhillasked Her Majesty's Government:
Why the Co-operative Bank has had to pay special levy tax of 88.9 per cent. (£3.2 million) of its total profit for 1981 of £3.6 million, although the clearing banks paid on average only 18.8 per cent. of their profits, and what action the Government propose to take to adjust this situation.
§ The Secretary of State for Trade (Lord Cockfield)The special tax on banking deposits imposed in 1981 was a levy based upon the average of non-interest bearing deposits held by a bank in the last quarter of 1980, irrespective of the level of the hank's profits. The rate of tax charged was 2 per cent. of the first £200 million of chargeable deposits and 2½ per cent. of the remainder. Those rates were of general application to banks liable to the levy.
House adjourned at nineteen minutes past nine o'clock.