Tax Allowances (Transport Expenses)

Oral Answers to Questions — National Finance – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 27 April 1954.

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Photo of Mr Barnett Janner Mr Barnett Janner , Leicester North West 12:00, 27 April 1954

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will follow the precedent of the £10 allowance free of Income Tax, granted to persons who during the war moved their places of residence and so incurred greater transport expense, by granting similar allowance to those ex-Service men and others who, as a result of changes of living circumstances due to the war, have incurred greater expenditure on transport, etc.

Photo of Mr John Boyd-Carpenter Mr John Boyd-Carpenter , Kingston upon Thames

No, Sir. Any question of a change in the existing law on this subject must, in my view, clearly await the Report of the Royal Commission, within whose terms of reference this matters is.

Photo of Mr Barnett Janner Mr Barnett Janner , Leicester North West

Is the Minister aware that the more one investigates this matter the more serious it becomes? What would he say of a case brought to my notice in which a wage earner is paying as much as £50 a year for transport to work which he certainly cannot afford? What will the right hon. Gentleman do about it?

Photo of Mr John Boyd-Carpenter Mr John Boyd-Carpenter , Kingston upon Thames

If the hon. Member has a particular case in mind and it relates to the affairs of the Treasury, I will gladly advise him. On the broad issue of tax allowances, a Royal Commission is sitting and the sensible thing is to await its advice.