I move:—
(1) That income tax shall be charged for the year beginning on the 6th day of April, 1954, at the rate of 7/6 in the £.
(2) That sur-tax for the year beginning on the 6th day of April, 1954, shall be charged in respect of the income of any individual the total of which from all sources exceeds £1,500 and shall be so charged at the same rates as those at which it is charged for the year beginning on the 6th day of April, 1953.
(3) That the several statutory and other provisions which were in force on the 5th day of April, 1954, in relation to income tax and sur-tax shall have effect in relation to the income tax and sur-tax to be charged as aforesaid for the year beginning on the 6th day of April, 1954.
(4) It is hereby declared that it is expedient in the public interest that this Resolution shall have statutory effect under the provisions of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1927 (No. 7 of 1927).
This is a charging Resolution and it provides that income-tax will be charged at the present rate, that is to say, at 7/6 in the £. Some Deputies may perhaps be surprised that the Resolution does not contain any reference to the reliefs to which I referred in my Budget statement. I just wish to make it clear that as these are reliefs, reductions in tax, it is not necessary that they should be covered by a Budget Resolution. Accordingly, so that there may not be any misunderstanding, I wish to impress on everyone that the personal allowance which I have mentioned, that is, the £300 allowance for married persons, the £150 for single persons, the widows' and widowers' allowance of £175, the increased allowance in respect of children, the reduction in the assessment of the rate of charge under Schedule A, all these things will be given full force and effect in the Finance Bill. This Resolution merely relates, as I have said, to fixing the standard rate of tax.
