* * * * The new rates of Inhabited House
Duty will be Under £30 a year exempted ; between £30 and £60, 3d. ; between £60 and £90, 6d. ; and above £90, 9d. Sir William Joynson-Hicks also stated that instructions had been sent out that the exceptional prices which men paid for house property after the War are not to be taken as a criterion of value. The rule will be that the house of an owner-occupier shall be valued according to the rack rent of similar houses in the neighbourhood. As for the allegation that inspectors have simply added a percentage of 20, 30 or 40 to the last assessment, he said that in cases where this had been done the assess- ment would be at once corrected on proof being given. The net financial cost of these concessions is estimated at £1,500,000. The agitation against the new assess- ments, which was in many respects justified, has thus scored a handsome success. No good citizen wants to avoid his share of taxation, but he has a right to know exactly how and why he is taxed and this right is now secured to him. The passage of the Finance Bill through Committee was no doubt helped by these concessions, and it passed that stage on Tuesday.
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