Customs and Excise had yielded £1,343,000 more than the estimate.
The beer duty, of which the Labour Party complains bitterly, brought in £2,000,000 more than was anticipated. So did the duties on tobacco, sugar and tea. On the other hand, the duty on spirits, which are now at a prohibitive price, yielded £7,500,000 less than the estimate. The Entertainments Tax was also disappointing, to the extent of £1,500,000. The
estimate for Inland Revenue proved too high by £110,726,000. The deficit on the unhappy Excess Profits Duty, which was retained too long, was no less than £89,548,000, or three-fourths of the expected total ; there was a deficit of £12,484,000 on tho equally ill-omened Corporation Tax and of £11,613,000 on Income- tax. .The Chancellor admitted that the arrears of Excess Profits Duty amount to no less than £296,000,000, much of which is probably irrecoverable, if it has not to be repaid on account of losses. A total sum of £399,000,000—twice our whole pre-War revenue—was collected in Income-tax and Super-tax. The miscellaneous receipts from the sale of War stores, profits on the currency notes, repayments of the cost of the Army on the Rhine, and so on, amounted to £197,000,000, and averted a deficit.
