THE BRITISH WAR BUDGET

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 184, 24 April 1918, Page 5

THE BRITISH WAR BUDGET

NEW TAXATION TOTALS £67,000,000

HUGE SUMS AT STAKE

IS RUSSIA A BAD DEBT ?

(Rec. April 2,3, 8.40 ji.ni.) ' London, April 22. The Budget was delivered by the Chancellor of tho Exchequer (Mr. Bouar Law) at a full sitting of the House of Commons. All tho .Nationalist members wero absent during the speech. The Budget provides fur ,£67,000,000 of nesv taxation. The ixcess profits duty remains unchanged, and Iho income tax on incomes ■ under .£SOO per annum is unchanged.i Over (hat it is fixed ;it Gs. in tlio Ji, with n> supertax of l<s. (id., beginning with incomes- of X' 2500. farmers are to pay income tax on twice their rent, otherwise they mu.st render accounts. The tobacco duty is fixed at Gs. 2d. per pound, the duly on spirits at 305., and on beer 50s. per barrel. The sugar duty is increased by lie. Bd. per hundredweight, and tho tax on matches is increaseu. Postcard postage. is fixed at a. penny, and letter rates to India and tile Dominions at three-halfpence. A tax of 2d. in the shilling is levied on luxuries.

In t.liu course of his speech, the' Chancellor quoted figures showing how the revenue compared with tho estimate for 1917-18. Tho total rcceipls from taxes were £K13,0i0,00V, an increase of JM3.340,000. Tho chief increases wero:—Customs, .£511,000; excise duties, estate duties, .£2,674,000; income tax, including super-tax, ,£15,509,000; excess profits tlnty, ; land duties, J255.000. Iteceipts from other source* totalled ,£94,195,000, an increase of £25.295,000. Tho total receipts from all sources lotalled Ji707.235.000. an increaso over the estimate of The total expenditure provided in the 1917-18 Budget was' .-£2,290,381,000, ami supplementary estimates amounted to .£477,250,000. Tho votes for tlio Army, Navy, Air Force, and Munitions in 1918-19 were merely taken with the other estimates of expenditure to show the largo increases in. various directions. Old-age pensions were put down at i;12,05n.000 Record Figures.

Mr. Bonar Law said that tho figures exceeded anything ever known in any 'country. The United States advances In the Allies amounted to .£950,0(10,000, including ,£500,000,000 to Britain. The letter's advances to the Allies amounted to .6505.000.000. Taxation would be increased under every headffij. One notable item in the revenue was ,£30,000,000 in excess profits from controlled firms. Tobacco showed an increase of ii 1,700,000 over the estimate. The entertainment tax yielded .£5,000,000, being half a million over the estimate. Tho income tax super-tax yielded .£21.500.000 over the estimate. The total expenditure' exceeded tho Budget estimate by of which .£155,000,000 represented Army estimates, X 131),000,000 represented foodstuffs and other commodities, while the balance consisted in increased advances to the Allies. We leaned to a great oxtent on the United States, as the other Allies leaned on us, but so far as the war was concorned we were self-supporting. "We must make allowance for the possibility after the war of not receiving tho interest duo from our Allies, and it is therefore proposed to take half the Allies debt, namely ,£816,000,000, and deduct this from the National Debt, and also deduct the Dominions' debt of jE24-i.000.000. and India's obligation of ,£01,000,000, a total of .£1,151,000,000, making the national obligation for which we will be liable ,£7,856,000,000. The interest upon this, at 5i per cent., will amount to JS3BO 000,000 which, added to the normal expenditure, will make ,£050,000,000 to be raised from revenue. Tho deficit is now .£110,000,000." New Taxation. Hβ proposed to levy new taxes amounting to 0:114,000,000. Our actual expenditure was .£2,103,000,000, at tho rate of O:e,!)3li,000 daily, as compared with i:ii,583,000 daily in I'JIG. The money raised tor war expenditure up to the end of 1916 was .£1,044,000,000; up to tho end of 1917 we had raised J! 1,086,1)00,000. These ligurea proved that the country's financial strength after four years oi war was much greater than could have been anticipated, and an amazing testimony to the country's financial spirit. The estimate of, the credit votes, he added, totalled .£2,550,000,000; estimate of tho advances to tho Allies ,£300,000,000, and the total estimate of tho expenditure £2 The National Debt at tho end of 11118 would bo ,£7,980,000,000. Tho Russian Debt. Mr. Bouar Law said ho did not regard the Russian debt as bad. Sooner ov later Russia would again have an ordered Government. Tho excess profits duty was expected to yield ,£800,000,000. It was Britain's duty to lovy as much taxation and bear as much of tho war expenses as was possible without weakening the conduct of tho war. Taxation must not bo on such scale as would cripple industry. The.Government did not propose to increase tho excoos profits duty. . It was proposed to increase the spirit duty from 14s. fld. to 30s. per gallon, which would yield .£11,000,000; tho proposed double beer duty, to 50s. per bai-l-el, would yield .£15,500,000; tho raising of the tobacco duty from (is. sd. to Ba. 2d. per pound would yield A' 8,000.000; matches would bo raised ono farthing, which would yield .£600,000. Tho proposed additional tax on sugar, 11s. Bd. per cwt., would yield ,£13,200,000, and this involved tho raising of the price from Slid, to 7d. per lb. The proposed luxury tax would bo. 2d. in tho shilling; -similar to France. There would bo three classes-first, luxury articles, siioh *s jewols; second, tax on articles above a, certain price; third, a tax on luxury establishment). A Select Committee would draw up the schedule. The Enemy's Finances. Dealing with. Germany's financial position, Mr. Bonar Law said that tho Germans' daily expenditure was ,£6,250,000, whilo the war dobt was .£6,200,000,000. Germany's new taxation aggregated ,£365,000,000, as compared with Britain's £744,000,000. Germany's war debt would bo ,£8,000,000,000., while Germany's deficit would be at the 'ninimum .£385,000,000. The new taxation would not be sufEciont to'pay tho interest on Germany's war debt. "If our case,' ho said, "wero ,the same, Britain would not 'be far from bankruptcy. Germany has imposed no indirect taxation because tho only classes which have any influence with the Government are fcbo wealthy, whom the Government are afraid 'to tax." i The House of Commons agreed to tho Budget resolutions.-Aus.-N.7i. Cable Aesn.-Reuler. THE NEW TAXES. London, April 22. Tho new taxation includes a shilling advance in income tax and super-tax. Tho beer duties aro doubled and tobacco duty is increased by Is. 9d. per lb-Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.