Page
THE CHINA MAIL, APRIL 8, 1941.
INCOME TAX AT TEN SHILLINGS IN
THE POUND: BRITAIN'S NEW BUDGET.
Plan
For
Keynes
Compulsory
Adapted
Saving
THE BRITISH TAXPAYER IS CALLED UPON TO PAY AN EX- 1'RA £205,000,000 UNDER PROPOSALS MADE BY THE CHAN- CELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER, SIR KINGSLEY WOOD, PRESENT- ING THE BUDGET TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS YESTERDAY. The income tax rate is increased to ten shillings in the pound, with a reduction in the abatements on the lower incomes.
Income Tax and surtax together total largest incomes.
Most striking feature of the Budget, how- ever, is the appearance of compulsory savings in special form. The proposal is that the extra tax of any individual paid by reason of the re- duction in the personal allowance and the earn- ed income allowance will be offset by a post-war credit in the Post Office Savings Bank.
The whole income tax proposals will produce an additional £150,000,000 this year and in a full year £250,000,000 of which half will be treated as a credit.
Sir Kingsley Wood estimated that the total ex- penditure in the coming year will be £4,207,000,000.
"Spend as little as possible and lend as much as possible, was the keynote of the Chancellor's speech.
The House was well filled and Excess Purchasing
the Chancellor was cheered wher
h entered the House. A num
ber of Peers and Mr.
Norman, Governor of the
Montagu Bank
of England, were present.
Power
Referring to the "many difficul- ties and problems inherent in the The Chancellor said he would most expensive war in history, make proposals which would not the Chancellor remarked that th only elubile us to surmount the danger we had to control was thal immediate difficulty bul would of being flooded out by a torrent ensure that we continue to inain-of excess purchasing power
fer tain our national finances on sound by the springs of war-time gov lnes so that we would be able,fernment expenditure. when the THE came, to pursue post-war measures of reconstrue-
tion and so al advance.
The British financial front stood firm and strong. The steps taken to Uimulate Cx. porto and
reduce
drastically non-essential imports certainly
had been successful. Our system of exchange trol under the mubilisat.on dollar securities enabled 113
Con-
ori to
ance.
That was the function of fin
Solution of the problem would be impossible unless was eased by withholding a sub. stantial part of surplus purchas instru ing power through the
19/6 in the £1 on the
ment of taxation. Dealing with details of lart year's
the Chancellor account thanked the taxpayers who res- pended so readily to his appeal for prompt payment
als: of taxes, thuse at home and overseas wh meet the very heavy drain upon patriotically helped with a steady Gur resources of gold dollars and flow of free gifts to the Excheque we now had assurance by reason and for aircraft production.
of the great contribution America THE PURCHASE TAX YIELD
ED SOME £20 MILLIONS. in ADMINISTRATION
QUITE SMOOTHLY. the Towards the total
tha
was making in the Lease and Lend Act that no difficulty financing purchases from United States will hamper full development of our fighting strength. (Cheers).
Control Of Capital Control of capital issues in the domestic market had been of great value in securing the best possible conditions for the suc.. cess of Government loans.
All these measures combined enabled us to borrow at a very
IT
WORKEU
expenditure of £3,884,000,000 we received
i
total revenue of £ 1,409,000,000, leaving a deficiency of £2,475,- 000,000 to be found by other means.
The nett sum of £2,462,000,000 was borrowed during the year.
Taxation Increases
Hard and severe financial mea-
low rate of Interest averaging they avoided for the mass
sures brought benefits because
below two per cent.
of
"We have no intention of bor. people the evil effects of uncheck- rowing on worse terms as the ed inflation.
Hitherto increase in taxation war proceeds. We shall hope to improve upon them." (Cheers), had not fallen short of the neces
There had been All this meant that aggravation sities of the case,
dangers in
our of our post-war financial problem no inflationary by the
burden of war debt, system up to the present. though it was bound to be griev- Referring to the future, the ous, would be- correspondingly Chancellor said a new and impor- Jess and we should also avoid the tant factor was introduced by the
evils incurred after 1918 of the Lease and Lend Act. starting period of post-war ex- pansion and recovery with a rate of interest which, in the long run, was 50 embarrassing, aprl. often crushing, to the borrower.
Maintenance of a low rate of Interest would do much to -vaas the financini problem of ro.
aftor bullding our cities
the
War.
We had - takon many stops eliminate war fortunes,
millions, Surtax £80 millions, death duties £82 millions, stamps £ 14 millions, and the Excess Pro- fits Tax £210 millions.
Inland Revenue
MATSUOKA VISITS THE KREMLIN
Mr. Matsuoka visit- ed the Kremlin in Moscow yesterday afternoon to resume the conversations with Stalin and Molo- tov, says a Moscow despatch to the offi- cial German news agency. Reuter.
DE GAULLE MAY GO TO BALKANS
General de Gaulle,
Total estimate of inland re- venue duties on the existing basis of taxation was £992 millions, | Leader of the Free French customs and excise £578 millions, Forces, declared in an and Purchase Tax £70 millions.
TOTAL ESTIMATED
R.A.F. LIBYAN ATTACKS
British aircraft made heavy attacks on Italian and German transport in the region of El Ághelia, în Cyrenaica, on the night of Saturday.
BEFORE ADDIS ABABA WAS CAPTURED, SOUTH AFRICAN BOMBERS MADE THE NEARBY AERODROME UNSERVICEABLE TO THE ENEMY.
In an attack carried out on Su- turday, says an R.A.F. Middle East communique issued in Calro yes- terday, fve Italian Savola max chines and three Capronis were burnt out and a number of others badly damaged.
Op Sunday, enemy aircraft nt Kombolcha, near Dessle, were machine-gunned and five fighters and three Savoia bombers des- troyed and a number of others se- verely damaged.
In Eritrea, Free French air. craft continued to give active support to the advancing troops, The aerodrome at Calato, on the island of Rhodes, was raided on Saturday night.-Reuter.
NAIROBI
RE. interview in Alexandria MURDER
VENUE IN 1940/41 ON THE yesterday that he might
EXISTING BASIS OF TAXA TION WAS £1,636,000,000.
2
The hops tax would be renew- ed for a further four years, medi- cine and stamp duties would be repealed from September 2 and new medicine and stamp duties legislation would be introduced.
The Finance Bill would in. clude
for clause providing purposes of Income Tax and national defence contributions a simitar allowance to that pro- vided for the purpose of the Excess Profits Tax In rospect to losses incurred in providing additional buildings, plant and machinery for the war effort. The Chancellor foreshadowed modification of the Excess Profits Tax but could not now afford changes. Part any considerable of the tax would be held by the Exchequer to be made avail- able to industry at the end-of the war.
Private Savings
He estimated private savings £1,600,- for the current year at 000,000 in addition to £1,636,000,- 000 from revenue.
go to the Balkans. TRIAL
After lunching aboard the Bri- tish battleship "Warspite" he said:
The Government analyst, Mr. Fox, was the chief witness when the the charge
Delves,
have reason to hope that Free France will participate In the battle in the Balkans and it is possible I may go there.
"Frankly, I believe that the German effort in the Balkans will hearing of be considerable and formidable in against
every way, but I remain convine-
Sir
ed that the Balkan countries, Broughton of murdering
which have chosen to resist, will the Earl of Erroll was-re- not regret it." Reuter.
CONSTITUTION CHANGED IN SARAWAK
Sir Charles Vyner, Brooke, White Rajah of
sumed at Nairobi yester- day.
Mr. Fox said he was satisfied that both the bullets fired at Lord Erroll and the bullets found at the farm where Sir Delves practised with a revolver were fred from the same weapon.
The hearing was adjourned till April 15.-Reuter.
MATSUOKA'S
Estimated domestic expendi Sarawak, yesterday pro-"CONVICTION"
turc
was £3,700,000,000,
ing a gap of £500 millions to nounced be filled.
his brother, heir to the
The Exchequer would bear the Bertram, considerably increased burden to throne. prevent an increase in the cost of Sir Charles stated this in living, including increase in ship-speech to the Supreme Council of
Sarawak on ping rates and insurance,
the qecasion of the centenary of the present regime.
He also announced the forma- tion of a Legislative Council and proclaimed the termination of the era of absolute rule of the Rajahs of Sarawak, Measures were produced to di- vest the Rajah of absolute tive powers,—Reuter.
The policy of stabilising prices would be continued and extend. ed. The scheme included coal,
and
charges. gas.
electricity Alm
was to hold wages about where they are now.
Turning to the question of All- the ing the £500 million gap, Chancellor said he needed a still from genuine new greuter sum savings. He urged people spend as little as possible and to lend as much as possible.
Income Tax
to
New private savings were es- timated to produce between 200 and 300 million pounds.
New taxation, he estimated, would produce £205 millions in a full year.
THE INCOME TAX RATE WOULD BE INCREASED, BY He could not estimate the value of supplies to be received 1/6d. to 10/- IN THE POUND.
The 57-rate on the from the United States. Ha es- timated the vote of credit ro lower scale would be in- quired, excluding supplies from creased to 6/6d. and payments to the States, at £8,600,000,000. He - ON THE LARGEST INCOMES, timated total expenditure at INCOME TAX AND SUPERTAX
£4,207,000,000, 7
WOULD BE 19/6d. IN THE POUND,
United
He estimated the yield from In- tajeurne Tax for the current year atļ
£605,000,000, an increase of £81
Income Tax yield this year was £96 millions and in a full year
£125 millions.
"MY VISIT HAS SERVED TO STRENGTHEN MY BELIEF IN THE VICTORY OF THE AXIS POWERS AND THE SUCCESS- FUL ESTABLISHMENT OF A NEW WORLD ORDER," SAYS MR. MATSUOKA, THE JAPAN- ESE FOREIGN MINISTER, IN A FAREWELL MESSAGE TO THE GERMAN AND ITALIAN PEO. PLE ON LEAVING GERMAN TERRITORY YESTERDAY,
Mr. Matsuoka expresses "sincere legisla-satisfaction" at his reception and
Earned Income allowance do duction, now one-sixth, would be one-tenth.
Personal allowance of £170 for a married person would be re- duced. to £140.
cordial thanks to the Fuehrer, Duce, the Foreign Ministers and leading men of both nations for their "friendliness, amiability and thoughtful hospitality."-Reutor.
RESTRICTIONS ON JAPANESE
Exemption limit for Income Tax. Would be £110.instead of
£120. This would increase the number of Income
In order to study measures re-f Tax payers by over two million.
garding alleged restrictions placed The extra tax any, individual on 200,000 Japanese residents inf countries by pald by reason of reduction of the Latin-American personal allowance and earned United States instigation, officials Income allowance would be offset of the
Japanese Foreign Office after the war by a credit in the and various Ministries concerned
held the first
of a series of Post Office Savings Bank.
The whole of the Income Tax monthly conferences at noon yes- proposals would produce £150 terday in which future steps re-. millions this year and in a full lating to Japanese emigration. year £250 millions, half of which commerce and precautions against the influence of third powers weref would be treated as a credit.
The full year would produce discussed, according to a semi-2
Reu- official Japanese report. 21,800,000,000, from taxation, Reuter.