§ Mr. Simsasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is satisfied that the Italian Government have implemented their undertaking, announced in his recent Budget speech, to remove the discriminatory taxation against Scotch whisky.
§ Mr. LawsonI understand that the Italian Government have issued a decree law, number 72 of 17 April, which inter alia provides for:
The decree law is now effective, but it must be approved by the Italian Parliament within 60 days from its publication on 19 April, otherwise the measures fall. On the assumption that it is approved, however, these measures would implement the undertaking to which I referred in my Budget speech.
- (i) the immediate abolition of the "diritto erariale" (state tax) on a typical bottle of scotch of about 400 lire;
155 - (ii) the immediate reduction from 38 per cent to 30 per cent in the VAT rate on imported spirits with a denomination of origin, including whisky; and
- (iii) the VAT rate on imported spirits to be further reduced from 30 per cent to 20 per cent as from 1 January 1986.