§ Mr. Malcolm BruceTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the work carried out by his Department since his answer of 5 May 1998,Official Report, columns 331–34, on taxation, in order to improve the quality of information on the personal tax payments for typical families. [78243]
§ Dawn Primarolo[holding answer 23 March 1999]: Estimating the impact of indirect taxes is imprecise as spending patterns vary widely between households with the same composition and income, with the consumption of the majority of goods and services far from universal. For example, only around one third of adults are smokers, just over half the adult population are in households paying vehicle excise duty and around 10 per cent. of households pay air passenger duty. This can be contrasted with direct taxes and benefits where at specified earnings and for particular household types there is a known benefit entitlement or tax liability. Treasury will keep under review what meaningful information on the indirect tax burden can be produced.