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43
The Vestry have appointed two of their members to
attend a Conference proposed to be convened by the Kensington
Vestry, to consider the desirability of taking joint
action with a view to the dues being renewed.
INHABITED HOUSE DUTY.
The Vestry were much gratified by the announcement in
the Budget Speech of the Chancellor of the Exchequer that
the more glaring of the anomalies in the incidence of the
Inhabited House Duty, to which they had more than once
directed attention, were to be removed. The hope thus
hold out was realised in the Customs and Inland Revenue
Act, which received the Royal assent on the 9th June.
Under this Act, houses which are occupied by a person
for the main purpose of letting furnished lodgings, are
placed, as the Vestry have long contended they should be,
on the same basis as private hotels; houses of an annual
value not exceeding £40 are liable to duty at one-third
only of the full amount, and houses of an annual value
exceeding £40 but less than £60 are liable to duty at twothirds
of the full amount; and houses built, or adapted to
the satisfaction of the Medical Officer of Health, for providing
separate dwellings, at rents not exceeding 7a 6d. per
week, are exempted from the duty altgether.
On the 15th May the Vestry unanimously passed a
resolution, thanking the Chanchellor of the Exchequer (Mr.
Goschen) for the modifications made in the incidence of the
duty, and expressing a hope that a reduced national
expenditure will, at no distant date, admit of the total
repeal of the duty. This resolution was conveyed to Mr.
Goschen, and duly acknowledged.