The Motor-spirit Tax and Motor-hiring Contracts.
Page 1
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
In the House of Commons, on _Monday last, Mr. LloydGeorge gave the following important answer to Mr. Sears, who had asked whether the amount of the spirit tax might legally be added to the charges of a firm holding a mail contract with the Postmaster-General : " The question raises the point whether a person who has entered into a contract for the supply of goods before the passing of tile Finance Act can increase the contract price of the goods, so as to enable him to recover from the person with whom he contracts any increase of price by reason of a duty being imposed upon the goods. This is a matter that is already provided for in a general enactment in Section 10 of the Finance Act, 1901, as amended by Section 7 of the Finance Act, 1902, and, upon the assumption that there is nothing exceptional in the terms of the contract to which my hon. friend refers, no special provision is required in the Finance Bill by reason of the imposition of the new duty on motor spirit." It is evident, therefore, that the Chancellor of the Exchequer contemplates the addition of the motor-spirit tax to the price of the services in question, and which addition, according to Mr. Sears, will amount to as much as £580 per annum in the case of a particular motor-mail
contractor. Apparently, furthermore, every party to a motor-hiring contract which involves the use of motor spirit has to accept the adjustment indicated. The clauses in the Finance Acts of 1901 and 1902, as we pointed out in our first post-Budget issue (the 6th May last), make full provision for the immediate effectiveness of any new duties, as between buyer and seller who have entered upon contractual relations, provided only that the seller has himself had to pay the extra which he claims.