§ Mr. Donald Stewartasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the estimated proportion of VAT per week in the average household expenditure in 1977.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonIt is estimated that in 1977 VAT was about 5 per cent. of consumers' expenditure.
§ Mr. Wakehamasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the current average length of time it takes for an eligible trader to deregister from VAT.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonProvided the statutory requirements are met applications for deregistration are normally effective within about a fortnight. The subsequent formalities, including the submission of the final return and payment of outstanding tax, are completed on average in about four months.
§ Mr. Wakehamasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the number of VAT registered traders who applied to deregister following the raising of the threshold from £5,000 to £7,500; how many traders were eligible to apply; and how many such applications have been successful.
§ Mr. Robert Sheldon8,773 traders were deregistered under the special procedures introduced to deal with the raising of the deregistration threshold to £6,000 with effect from 1st October 1977 in the Finance Act 1977. A small number of deregistrations dealt with subsequently under the normal procedures were a direct result of the raising of the threshold, but these cannot be separately identified. A little over 100,000 traders were eligible to apply, but of these only about 43,000 were traders who normally paid tax to Customs and Excise. All applications which met the legal requirements were accepted.
§ Mr. Wakehamasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the number of traders who will be eligible to deregister from VAT following the raising of the threshold from £7,500 to 188W £10,000; and what is his estimate of the number who will apply for deregistration.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonThe number of traders who will be eligible to deregister with effect from 1st July 1978 as a result of the raising of the deregistration threshold to £8,500 is estimated to be about 200,000, of whom about 90,000 have normally paid tax to Customs and Excise. The decision to apply for deregistration is for an individual trader to take in the light of his own circumstances and trade needs. No estimate has been made of the number of applications likely to result from the proposed new deregistration limit.