§ Mr. Knoxasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Staffordshire, Moorlands on 29 June, Official Report, c. 86, what consideration he gave to the fact that many private investors have access to computers, in some cases through the agents which they employ.
§ Mr. RidleyCareful consideration was given to the question of extending to private investors the alternative method for calculating liability to capital gains tax. This method is intended primarily to assist in those cases where computerised records have to be maintained of large share portfolios subject to rapid turnover, as is the case with certain institutional investors. Private investors do not generally face this problem and might not welcome the necessity of making an irrevocable choice between the two methods of calculating their tax liability.