§ Mr. Pardoeasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list all those taxes which are included in the retail price index and all those taxes which are not included; and if he will estimate the impact on the retail price index of including income tax.
§ Mr. GoldingI have been asked to reply.
The retail prices index measures the change from month to month in the prices 181W paid by households for the goods and services they buy. All current taxes levied by Government are included in the index to the extent that they are recovered from consumers and affect, either directly or indirectly, the prices actually paid for goods and services.
Payments of personal income tax as such are excluded from the retail prices index on the recommendation of the Retail Prices Index Advisory Committee. In the absence of any defined basis for their inclusion it is not possible to estimate the effect of this on the index.