§ 67. Mr. H. Fraserasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that the Purchase Tax on a box of tennis balls which last season was 5s. 8d. is now to be increased to 8s. 9d. owing to increased costs of manufacture; and whether, regarding this as a typical example of the inflationary effect of an ad valorem duty, he will arrange to institute ceiling limits for Purchase Tax in his next Budget.
§ Mr. JayA rise in wholesale prices on which Purchase Tax is chargeable does of course increase the amount of the tax. But, apart from other difficulties, the Purchase Tax covers hundreds of thousands of different goods and any system under which fixed values had to be determined for, and applied to, each article would be impossible to work fairly.