Twelve months ago my predecessor budgeted for a surplus of £12,500 on an estimated expenditure of over £61,000,000. In October, 1947, the Government decided to provide additional subsidies on flour, bread, tea, sugar and fertilisers and as the cost could not be met by the yield from the existing rates of taxation a Supplementary Budget was introduced providing for further taxes which were estimated to yield £4.7 million within the financial year, leaving an estimated surplus of £17,000 on an expenditure of almost £67,000,000. Of this sum of £4.7 million £2.9 million was expected to be derived from additional duties on tobacco, beer and entertainments. These additional duties were repealed by the present Government with effect from 5th March, 1948, in the case of tobacco and beer, and 15th April, 1948, in the case of entertainments.
At the close of the year revenue payments into the Exchequer were found to exceed Exchequer issues by £33,000. When there are deducted from current expenditure amounts regarded as proper to be met from borrowing the surplus becomes £550,000, approximately. Tax revenue at £56,636,000 was £1,550,000 lower than the Supplementary Budget Estimates. The principal decreases on the customs side were £1,620,000 on tobacco, £295,000 on spirits and £147,000 on wine. On the other hand, there were increases of £575,000 on motor cars, parts and accessories, £225,000 on clothing and apparel, and £184,000 in the hydrocarbon oil group. On the excise side there were decreases of £350,000 on spirits and £105,000 on entertainments, as compared with the Estimates, while the duties on beer and betting showed increases of £290,000 and £73,000, respectively, over the Estimates. The yield from inland revenue duties on the whole was well maintained. Death duties brought in £363,000 more than was estimated. Stamp duties and corporation profits tax showed decreases of £148,000 and £145,000, respectively. Receipts from motor vehicle duties amounted to £2,000,000, of which £200,000 went to the Exchequer.
The principal reason for the year's surplus was over-estimation of expenditure on a number of Votes. The total of issues for the Supply Services was approximately £5.6 million less than the total amount voted, and even £3,000,000 less than the expenditure provided for in the Supplementary Budget. The largest saving—£1,334,000 —occurred on the Vote for Alleviation of Distress. One other saving— £499,000 on the Vote for Aviation and Meteorological Services—was due mainly to the present statutory limitation on air subsidies.