166 ENGLISH WOODLANDS 



returns and constant losses for many years, and 

 extends to losses on woodlands the relief given 

 by 23 of the Customs and Inland Revenue Act, 

 1890, 53 & 54 Vic. c. 8, in the case of loss in 

 business. 



In the House of Commons a request was 

 made for an explanation of this clause. The 

 Chancellor of the Exchequer said that he would 

 illustrate the effect of the clause by a concrete 

 example. " A man whom he would call ' X ' 

 had lands which he proposed to plant or replant 

 with timber. Within a year of the planting 

 ' X ' satisfied either the General Commissioners 

 or the Special Commissioners that he was 

 managing a newly planted woodland on a com- 

 mercial basis. He elected for Schedule D assess- 

 ment, and intimated that these woodlands were 

 to be treated as a separate area, a distinct unit, 

 for Income Tax purposes. That was to say, 

 that these woods, managed on a commercial 

 basis, were to be cut out for Income Tax purposes 

 from the rest of the estate, and were to be dealt 

 with under Schedule D. On the conclusion of 

 the first year's operations ' X's ' accounts would 

 show a loss. There would be an excess of 

 expenditure over receipts, because he did not 

 cut his timber in the first year. For some 



