§ Sir T. Beamishasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the rate of sales tax which would be necessary, excluding food and items such as alcoholic drink, petrol and tobacco already subject to other taxes, in order to yield the same revenue as the present rates of Purchase Tax; and what flat rates of Purchase Tax on the same items he estimates would be required to yield the same results.
§ Mr. MacDermotAssuming that the hon. and gallant Member has in mind a40W retail sales tax on all consumer goods and services other than the exclusion which he mentions, the Answer to the first part of his Question would be theoretically 5½ per cent If in the second part of his Question he is thinking of taxation at the wholesale stage this system is applicable only to goods not services, and the corresponding figure would be 11 per cent. on the narrower base.