§ Mr. Hugh Jenkinsasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what action he will take in view of the fact that, largely as a result of VAT, low-income families pay a larger proportion of their incomes in indirect taxation than high-income families.
§ Mr. Denzil DaviesI refer my hon. Friend to an article, "Effects of Taxes and Benefits on Household Income 1974", published in the February 1976 issue ofEconomic Trends, a copy of which is available in the Library. He will see from a table contained in that article that VAT does not bear more heavily on the lower-income families.