| Year. | Total Abatement Granted. | Annual Increse in No. of Abatements Granted. | Rate of Income Tax. Pence in the £. |
| 1893-4 | 509,397 | 7 | |
| 1894-5 | 449,335 | 8 | |
| 1895-6 | 469,378 | 20,043 | 8 |
| 1896-7 | 487,509 | 18,131 | 8 |
| 1897-8 | 507,362 | 19,853 | 8 |
| 1898-9 | 542,515 | 35,153 | 8 |
| 1899-1900 | 577,310 | 34,795 | 8 |
| 1900-01 | 601,304 | 23,994 | 12 |
| 1901-02 | 636,083 | 34,779 | 14 |
| 1902-03 | 663,773 | 27,690 | 15 |
| 1903-04 | 695,916 | 32,143 | 12 |
| 1904-05 | 708,642 | 12,726 | 12 |
| 1905-06 | 724,728 | 16,086 | 12 |
| 1906-07 | 737,279 | 12,551 | 12 |
| 1907-08 | 764,480 | 27,201 | 9 to 12 |
| 1908-09 | 779,552 | 15,072 | 9 to 12 |
It will be seen that since 1897-8 there has been a rapid increase in the number of abated incomes. This has been caused not by the sudden growth of incomes of this class, but by (1) the abatements being better understood, and (2) heavier taxation making it better worth while for individuals to claim the abatements. With the income tax at 1s. and 1s. 3d. it became worth while to fill up the form. We have, then, to thank the late war, and the increased taxation which followed it, for putting at our disposal a fairly complete record of the number of individual incomes between £160 and £700. Probably the record is still incomplete, and we must make an allowance for the fact. It is probable also that a certain number of persons of small income who ought to pay tax escape assessment. Both counts, however, are certainly well covered by adding a small percentage to the number of individual incomes revealed by the claimed abatements. In "Riches and Poverty," edition 1905, with the actual claims made standing at about 700,000, I suggested that 50,000 would be a fair estimate of the number not claiming abatements or who escaped taxation. But in five years some 80,000 new claims have been made. Over 27,000 of these were made in 1907-8; this was probably due to the clause in the Finance Act of 1907 compelling all employers, and not companies alone, to divulge their employees' incomes, thus bringing to light non-assessed incomes and causing claims for abatements by their owners. My estimate of 50,000 I should, in view of this further information, raise to 90,000 or 100,000, and at the present time I am inclined to think that some 40,000 incomes between £160 and £700 must still be regarded as either escaping tax or as being not reviewed in the abatements table. We thus arrive at, in round figures, 820,000 as a near approximation to the number of individuals who possess between £160 and £700 per annum.
The aggregate income of the 779,000 persons granted abatements in 1908-9 is not given in the report. We can, however, estimate it closely, and this is done in the following table, figures being added for the 40,000 persons whom we have assumed either to neglect to claim abatements or to escape taxation altogether:—
INDIVIDUAL INCOMES BETWEEN £160 AND £700 (1908)
| Estimated Aggregates. | |
| 648,000 Incomes between £160 and £400. Average assumed to be £300 | £194,400,000 |
| 67,000 Incomes between £400 and £500. Average assumed to be £450 | 30,150,000 |
| 41,000 Incomes between £500 and £600. Average assumed to be £550 | 22,550,000 |
| 24,000 Incomes between £600 and £700. Average assumed to be £650 | 15,600,000 |
| 40,000 (balance of estimated total of 820,000) Incomes of persons who either neglect to claim abatements or altogether escape taxation. Average assumed to be £300 | 12,000,000 |
| 820,000 Incomes aggregate | £274,700,000 |
To proceed, we see that some 820,000 persons enjoy an estimated aggregate income of £274,700,000 per annum. But the total income of the income tax paying classes we have already seen to be £909,000,000. There remains therefore, to form an estimate of the number of persons who enjoy the balance of £634,000,000.
Our best clue to these persons, who individually possess incomes exceeding £700 a year, is to be found in the number of rich men's houses in the United Kingdom.
In Great Britain an Inhabited House Duty is levied upon the occupiers of all houses and residential business premises of an annual value exceeding £20. The duty being graduated, we obtain records of the houses of Great Britain classified according to their rentals. The duty is not levied in Ireland.
The Inland Revenue report gives us the following interesting record.
GREAT BRITAIN ONLY: PRIVATE DWELLING-HOUSES OF £20 AND UPWARDS: 1908-9