§ Mr. Spellerasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will seek to amend the Value Added Tax (Competition) Order 1980 in order to include games such as bridge and chess as well as sport or physical recreation.
§ Mr. Peter ReesNo. While recognising that bridge and chess may make a contribution to social life, the relief afforded by the order was necessarily limited to certain sport or physical recreation competitions only. To extend the relief into the area of games and pastimes generally would be inconsistent with the essentially broad-based nature of the tax.