§ 32. Mr. Gowerasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has considered the advantages or otherwise of introducing a sales tax to take the place of existing Purchase Tax; and if he will make a statement.
§ The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr. R. A. Butler)The relative merits and demerits of various forms of retail sales taxes, as compared with the Purchase Tax, were considered before the inception of the tax and have been reviewed on a number of occasions since. I am fully satisfied that it would not be advantageous or practicable at this stage to replace the Purchase Tax with a retail sales tax.