I beg to second the Motion.

If this Clause were accepted, I understand that it would bring us back, as far as the law is concerned, to the position in which charities were prior to the decision given in connection with Dr. Barnardo's Homes. As the result of that decision, it was pointed out that technically the residue of an estate, until it is actually handed over, belongs to the executors and not to the charity. Belonging technically to the executors, it did not come within the exemption from Income Tax that had been granted to charity.

Following that decision, the Amendment was made which we are now seeking to amend. It provided that as from the end of what is commonly called the executor's year, in which he has the right to retain it for the purpose of collecting and dealing with debts, the money should be free from Income Tax. We are now seeking that the money should be free from Income Tax as from the date of the death of the testator. My hon. Friend the Member for South Croydon has said that he is unable to ascertain what this concession would cost, and I would not venture to make a prophesy where he is unwilling to do so. I should hope that it would not cost any great amount in an average year, and that the Chancellor may see his way to accept this small Amendment and thereby bring the law into some relation with the facts, the facts of course being that the money belongs to the charity from the death of the testator, and that it is only a technical interpretation of the law which places the ownership in the executor.

When, two years ago, I had the privilege of moving a similar Amendment, the then Financial Secretary to the Treasury pointed out that this was only one of the many anomalies in the administration of the law in relation to taxation and the prolonged administration of an estate. He held out the hope that, if and when the Chancellor of the Exchequer were in a position to reconsider the law, the Amendment which had been moved would be borne in mind. Two years have passed; not a very long time in the life of a committee dealing with the amendment of Income Tax law. The committee have been sitting for seven years, and many people, knowing more about that branch of the law than I, believe that when eventually the report of the committee is issued to the world it will be time for a new committee to be appointed to consider the anomalies that have arisen since the present committee started to consider the question. I hope the Chancellor will see his way to make this small alteration which would do much to encourage people to leave the residue of their estates or some part of their residue to charitable institutions. It will not cost him any grave anxiety in the administration of the public purse.