TAX ON SAFETY HARNESS IN CARS (Hansard, 21 March 1961)

THE EARL OF GOSFORD
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

§ THE MINISTER WITHOUT PORTFOLIO (THE EARL OF DUNDEE)
My Lords, I know that the noble Earl will not at this time of the year expect me to comment on a taxation matter, except to say that his suggestion will be considered. I should bring to his notice, however, that it is an established principle of the purchase tax that a taxable article which is supplied complete with accessories is charged with tax on its total value as delivered, including the value of the accessories, and that to make an exception to this principle would be likely to have far-reaching effects.

THE EARL OF GOSFORD
My Lords, while thanking the noble Earl for his Answer and for saying that Her Majesty's Government will consider the suggestion, may I ask him whether the saving of life is not more important than a principle of taxation? Secondly, if harness is placed in a car at the time of manufacture it is liable to be a much safer anchorage and therefore a much safer proposition to the occupants of the car; and is that not therefore again far more important?

§ THE EARL OF DUNDEE
My Lords, I do not want to add anything to my 1069 original Answer, but perhaps I might read to your Lordships an Answer given by the Minister of Transport a few weeks ago, on March 8, in reply to a supplementary question about this. He said [OFFICIAL REPORT. Commons, Vol. 636 (No. 69), col. 456]: There are two parts to the safety belt; first, the safety belt itself, and, secondly, the ancho7age. So far as the anchorage is concerned, I have already taken action and have asked the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders to have talks with my Department with a view to seeing if we can incorporate the anchorage when the body of the car is built and not after. Discussions have been proceeding for some months now on that basis. At the moment they are on the tech-Meal level, but I assure my honourable friend that l have this matter very much at heart. I should like all new cars in this country to have the anchorage installed while they are being built, and then to recommend the type of webbing which should go with that particular anchorage.

§ VISCOUNT ALEXANDER OF HILLSBOROUGH
My Lords, would not the Treasury recoup something in direct taxation from the profits of the people who supply the cars or the appliances if, in the interests of saving life, some concession were made upon safety belts? It would not be entirely a taxation loss. I am not thinking of the noble Earl's difficulty about the technical problems within the tax administration; but I think the matter ought to be looked at from the point of view of the safety of the passengers and drivers.

§ THE EARL OF DUNDEE
My Lords, I am sure that both the Minister and the Treasury have the question of greater safety very much in mind, and it is certainly their desire to encourage the use of these safety belts.

§ BARONESS HORSBRUGH
My Lords, if persons think that this is going to save life, surely they think it is worth spending a small sum of money on it.

§ LORD LATHAM
My Lords, may I ask the noble Earl whether the intention of the Minister of Transport in his Answer in seeking to find out whether the anchorage could be embodied in the chassis is to relieve the anchorage and the harness of taxation?

§ THE EARL OF DUNDEE
My Lords, I think if the noble Lord would look at the OFFICIAL REPORT of another place for March 8 he will find a large number of 1070 Questions and supplementaries on this matter, which it would hardly be suitable for me to quote to your Lordships at Question Time. As your Lordships know, purchase tax is not charged on a safety belt which is sold apart from the car. It is suggested in reply to that that it is unsafe if it has not got suitable anchorage, so it does have a bearing on that question.

§ LORD LATHAM
My Lords, if the anchorage is part of the car, and the manufacturer charges a higher price, then tax falls upon that higher price, including the anchorage and the harness?

§ THE EARL OF DUNDEE
Certainly.