HC Deb 05 December 1989 vol 163 cc124-5W
Mr. Austin Mitchell

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what contribution is made by the annual wealth tax on housing in West Germany and by domestic rates in the United Kingdom in the last year for which figures are available; and what would be the yield of a wealth tax in(a) housing and (b) other assets in the United Kingdom at the rate charged in West Germany.

Mr. Lilley

[holding answer 30 November 1989]: The latest figures for receipts from the annual taxes on immovable property and on net wealth in West Germany are available in "Revenue Statistics of OECD Member Countries 1965–1988". The net payments of domestic rates in the United Kingdom were £7,553 million in 1987–88.

An estimate of the yield of a wealth tax applied to assets in the United Kingdom using the West German tax rate and system of allowances, exemptions, reliefs and valuation rules could only be provided at disproportionate costs.