§ Mr. D. Priceasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish an estimate of what will have been the total consumption of hydrocarbon oils subject to Excise duty in the present fiscal year; and what proportion of that total has been used by the private motorist.
Mr. AmoryOn the basis of the estimate made by my right hon. Friend the Member for Monmouth (Mr. P. Thorneycroft) at the time of his 1957 Budget, nearly 2,900 million gallons of hydrocarbon oils would be subject to duties of Customs and Excise in the present financial year, of which about 140 million gallons would be subject to the Excise duty chargeable on hydrocarbon oils produced in the United Kingdom from indigenous materials. It is estimated that about one-third of the total is used in private cars (including those used for business purposes). Oils subject to Excise duty of a kind suitable for use in private cars lose their identity in the course of distribution and it is impossible to say whether the proportion of these oils so used differs from that of the total amount of dutiable oils.
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§ Mr. D. Priceasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the cost to the Exchequer of abolishing the Excise duty on hydrocarbon oils.
Mr. AmoryMy right hon. Friend the Member for Monmouth (Mr. P. Thorneycroft) estimated at the time of his 1957 Budget that the revenue from the Customs and Excise duties on hydrocarbon oils in the current financial year would be £340 million of which £9 million related to the Excise duty (on hydrocarbon oils produced in the United Kingdom from indigenous materials).