§ 6. Sir J. Gilmourasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will vary the provision of Purchase Tax under Group 11(a) of the First Schedule of the Purchase Tax Act, 1963, so as to exempt school desks from the payment of Purchase Tax even if they do not have holes bored in them for ink-wells.
§ Mr. MacDermotNo, Sir. The tax on furniture is confined to articles of a kind used for domestic or office purposes. Desks specialised for school use are not taxable, even if they have no ink-well holes.
§ Sir J. GilmourI thank the Minister for that reply, but is he aware that it is in great conflict with the information sent to me by my local education authority, which said that there was insistence that the holes must be bored if Purchase Tax was not to be paid?
§ Mr. MacDermotIt may be that in the case of the particular desks it was suggested that they would pass the test if some ink-well holes were bored in them, but there are other ways of making desks specialised for school use.