§ Mr. Crawfordasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the cost to the Exchequer of raising the threshold at which value added tax becomes payable from £5,000 to £15,000.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonAbout £75 million in a full year, assuming that the change applied to all classes of traders.
§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the percentage increase in VAT necessary in order to bring in an extra £1,000 million, £2,000 million and £3,000 million in revenue.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonThe standard rate of VAT would need to be raised to 11 per cent., 15 per cent. and 18 per cent. respectively. The larger increases in the rate of VAT would cause considerable changes in the economy and estimates for them are correspondingly uncertain.