§ Mr. Gristasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) whether it is his intention to bring the law on value added tax and secondhand traders into line with the dissenting opinion of Lord Salmon in the House of Lords case Customs and Excise Commissioners v. J. H. Corbitt (Numismatists) Ltd.: and if he will make a statement;
(2) whether secondhand dealers have any right to independent assessment of value added tax charged by the Customs and Excise commissioners.
§ Mr. Peter Rees[pursuant to his reply, 14 April 1980, c. 516]: Any trader has the right of appeal to a VAT tribunal on the matters listed in section 40 (1) of the Finance Act 1972. The House of Lords decision concerned the tribunal's powers to review the exercise of the commissioners' discretion in relation to secondhand dealers. I intend to review the whole area of the operation of the secondhand schemes and the relevant statutory provisions, including the right of appeal, in the light of the decision.