§ Mr. Staintonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in view of the delay until next Spring in publishing his legislative proposals for the introduction of a value-added tax and the consequent curtailment of the period available to business to prepare for accounting, marketing and inventory problems, he will undertake the presentation before Christmas of a White Paper by way of a progress report containing the maximum possible detail.
§ Mr. HigginsAs my right hon. Friend explained in the course of the debate on the Queen's Speech, one of the principal reasons for postponing the V.A.T. legislation until next year's Finance Bill is to allow further discussions to take place between trade and professional associations and Customs and Excise. It would be wrong to attempt to pre-judge the outcome of those discussions.—[Vol. 825, c. 851–2.]