To ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer why instructions have been given to surveyors of income-tax to enforce for the first time the collection of income-tax on underwriting commissions on shares, and treat such com- missions as profit at a time when every transaction is showing a loss to the underwriters in the capital value of any shares allotted.

No general instructions of the character referred to have been given to surveyors of taxes, nor have the Board of Inland Revenue been able to trace any particular case of the kind referred to in the Question; but if the hon. Member will give me details of such a case, I will have inquiry made into the matter.