12 NOVEMBER 1892, Page 15

AGRICULTURAL INCOME-TAX.

[TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SEECTATOR."]

SIR,—May I correct an inaccuracy in your article on "The Conference on Agriculture" of November 5th ? You say, objecting to the readjustment of Income-tax on farmers, "If the farmer makes no income, he can pay no tax on it ; and, if he does make one, he has no more right to relief than any

other struggling manufacturer ; " thus assuming that a farmer, like a manufacturer, is taxed on estimated profits. As a matter of fact, whether he makes enormous profits or none at all, under Schedule B of the Income-tax Act, 55-56 Vict. c. 16, he pays in England 3d. in the pound on the annual value of his farm, and in Scotland or Ireland, 21,1. ; thus, in bad years, paying Income-tax on income he does not make, and there are no provisions for claiming a return in such cases.—I am, Sir, &c., H. R.