Tax REMLSSION PROSPECTS.
When all the pros and cons are taken into con- sideration, there would be no reason for assuming that Mr. Neville Chamberlain would be unable on the 19th of next month to produce a balanced Budget, but it is because very optimistic forecasts have been made lately with regard to remission of taxation that it seems necessary to utter a word of caution. Nowadays even a reduction of ed. in the Income Tax means the sacrifice of about £25,000,000 in a full year. This in itself is a pretty large item, but the difficulty of the situation would seem to be increased by the fact that a certain section of the Cabinet, including Lord Snowden, is apparently insisting on the fact that in any taxation remission equal consideration must be given to such matters as restoring some of the cuts made in expenditure a few months ago or in relieving the indirect taxpayer. If such a view were adopted by the Cabinet as a whole, -it- will-be seem therefore, -that to make any remission to the Income Taxpayer the Chan- cellor of the Exchequer would need to have-something like a £40,000,000 or £50,000,000 surplus at his disposal, and I find it difficult at present, even allowing for possi- bilities in the direction of a revival of the tax on tea and sugar, to see how he could count upon such a surplus. Of course, there is the possibility of "some' ultimate important saving through debt conversion, -but -even if we assume that some time during the new fiscal year it were possible to convert the 5 per cent. War Loan on , lines giving a saving to the Exchequer Of about £20,000,000 a year, only about one-half of such savings -could be expected to be secured during the period for -which -the
Chancellor will have to budget. .
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