§ Mr. Doverasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimates the Government originally made of the effect on the turnover of hot take-away food outlets, particularly fish and chips, of the imposition of 15 per cent. value added tax from 1 May 1984; what is his most recent estimate of the effect on turnover; and what estimates he has made of the consequential effect on the tax yield.
§ Mr. HayhoeI shall let my hon. Friend have a reply as soon as possible.
§ Mr. Doverasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what reports he has received on the exploitation of loopholes in the application of the 15 per cent. value added tax to hot take-away food; and what action he has taken to prevent abuses.
§ Mr. HayhoeI am aware that a number of schemes have been devised which are claimed to avoid tax in this area. Most of them are ineffective and it is very doubtful whether others could be operated successfully in practice. Customs and Excise follows up all cases of alleged avoidance which are reported to it or which come to light during the course of routine control visits. Those who are attempting to apply tax avoidance schemes run a serious risk of having to account later for tax which they have not recovered from their customers.
§ Mr. Doverasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what reports the Government have received of the effect of the imposition of 15 per cent. value added tax from 1 May 1984 on fish and chip, Chinese and other hot take-away food outlets.
§ Mr. HayhoeWe have received a number of reports about the effect of the tax on the take-away food trade. The majority of these indicate the expected fairly sharp reduction in trade during the first weeks of the tax. However, these early reports must be viewed with some caution. It is too soon to form any reliable conclusions about the long-term effect.