PREFACE
To prevent misunderstanding, it is desirable to say
at once that this little book is not intended to provide
for a complete knowledge of Income Tax in all its
phases. Much of the law on the subject relates to
matters of administration, and affects only the various
officials concerned, while part of the remainder deals
with special matters—very important, it is true,
but touching the interests of relatively few taxpayers.
This is the reason for omissions that an expert will
notice in the following pages.
Many of the disputes between the taxpayer and
the Crown officials turn on particular points arising
out of matters of Account, such as whether an item
of expenditure should be charged against Revenue
or Capital. These are essentially matters for dis-
cussion by trained Accountants or Lawyers, and
cannot be dealt with in the space here available.
How difficult it is to decide some points may be
illustrated from one case on record—not by any means
an isolated one, but one in which the line between
liability and non-liability was peculiarly obscure.
The City of London Commissioners of Taxes gave
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