§ Lord Kaldorasked Her Majesty's Government:
How they would reconcile the figures for the increase in indirect taxation as a percentage of total consumption expenditure given in the Written Answer of 3rd June 1981 (Vol. 420, col. 1341) which showed that between 1978–79 and 1979–80 the increase was 0.6 per cent. for the person with two-thirds average earnings, 1.4 per cent. for the person on average earnings and 1.9 per cent. for the person with 1½ times average earnings, with the figures published in Monthly Digest, April 1981, Table 1.1 and Financial Statistics, April 1981, Table 2.1.
§ The Minister of State, Treasury (Lord Cockfield)The figures contained in the publications mentioned are aggregates for the country as a whole. The figures given in the reply to the noble Lord on 3rd June 1981 are estimates for one specimen household type only and based on stylised assumptions concerning tax allowances claimed and the sources and uses of income. The estimates are necessarily based on data from theFamily Expenditure Survey and do not therefore represent an average for the population as a whole. It is well known that such estimates cannot be reconciled with national accounts data. Further, the coverage of taxes is slightly different between the two sources.