§ Mr. Skeetasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will express in pence per gallon the total tax on derv and the percentage it represents of the pump price, and give his estimate of the impact of the tax on commercial and industrial costs.
§ Mr. Peter ReesThe total tax on derv and its percentage of the pump price both depend on the price assumed. When the full effect of the Budget changes is taken into account the tax content of a gallon of derv selling at £105 at the pump will be 55.52p—about 41.82p Excise duty and 13.7p VAT. This represents 52.9 per cent. of the pump price. Most users of derv are businesses and are entitled to recover the VAT element.
On the best estimate available the answer to the last part of the question is about 0.3 per cent.