The Sun.
London, England, 1853-06-11 00:00:00

CUSTOM, &c., ACTS.

The resolutions on these acts were then brought up
and agreed to.

SUCCESSION TAX BILL.

On the motion for the second reading of the bill,
Sir J. PAKINGTON said it had been his intention
to move that this bill be read a second time this day six
months ; but in the absence of the schedules it would
not be convenient to take the discussion on the prin-
ciple of the bill now. He should, therefore, reserve his
opposition until the motion for going into committee.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER—Then they
could take the discussion on Monday. (Hear, bear.) The
schedules were printed ; but, to comply with the general
wish, he would circulate them at once as an amendment
to the bill. Before going farther, however, he would dis-
charge a pledge he had given, and state at once, not at a?!
with a view to discussion, the intentions of the Govern-
ment with respect to taxing corporate property. The
Government had been, it was known, of opinion that in.
proposing this extended succession duty on private pro•
perty it would not be just to leave exemptions on corporate
property, which enjoyed the privileges of protection under
the law. The question arose, in what way could a tax be,
levied? Corporations never died, and if it had been pro-
posed to establish an equivalent system whereby corpora-
tions should be taxed every 25 or 30 years, there would
have been the difficulty of determining when these cycles
should begin. The proposal, therefore, was to effect a,
commutation whereby corporations should pay in a certain
proportion annually. Then they had to consider in what
way the amount was to be framed. Should they go on
the assumption that the transmission of their property
ewxthroelme, est; heayndthe thoughtpr theysaopol
was analogous to the transmission of property in the direct
line or as analagous to the transmission from one set of
ofOnthes the
e
sshtraouingdein'sottotaakne toetiherhe
r they should make was that on corporation property,
speaking generally, there should ultimately be levied an
annual tax of 6c . in the pound on the net
equivalent to the succession duty, but that for a period of
seven years from the present time, inasmuch as A would
not be fair to make the tax accrue at the first
for the period of Iseven years from moment,
the sth of last April
the tax would only be at the rate of 3d. in the pound,
but after the sth April, 1860, the tax would be at
the rate of 6d. in the pound. Then, with regard to the question of the various descriptions of corporations and
how far the tax ought to apply to them universally,
how far any of them ought to be exempt, or how
far other bodies ought to be considered as corporations
for the purposes of the succession tax, it was quite obvious
that with regard to municipal corporations they would act
safely in adopting a rule correspondent with that which
had been adopted in the acts imposing the income tax,
namely, a rule which regarded as liable to the tax
the realised property of corporations, but which ex-
empted from tax such of the revenues of corporations as
were derived from rates and taxes laid on the community.
As respected trading corporations, they did not, he thought
fall in purview of the plan, and for this plain reason, that
although they were corporations for the purpose cf. carry-
ing business, _yet yet the whole property invested in them
ing on
was divided into shares, and was therefore represented
the investment of individual property, and the investment