§ Mr. Trotterasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what were the costs to public funds of the recent hearing before the London Value Added Tax Tribunal which found that the value added tax liability of a coin-operated laundry should be based on the takings banked rather than on the estimates made by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise officers on the basis of the gallons of water used in the business having regard to the wash- 243W ing machine manufacturers' sales brochure and without regard to the wastage caused by the poor condition and age of the appellant's machines; and what effect the decision will have on the instructions issued to, and the operations of. Her Majesty's Customs and Excise.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonIn accordance with its usual practice, Customs and Excise will be studying the decision to see whether there is anything useful to be learnt from the particular facts of the individual case which could be applied generally.
I am afraid that information about the cost of individual VAT tribunal hearings is not maintained, and any meaningful calculation would involve disproportionate time and effort. However, in 1977–78, 881 appeals were referred to the VAT tribunals, and 195 cases were heard. The total cost of running the tribunals in 1977–78 is estimated at £370,000.