§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what action Her Majesty's Government intend taking to secure the refund of value added tax payments due to British firms by the Italian Government; if Italy has accepted the indebtedness; what is the length of the delay; if he will take action on the correspondence he has received on this subject from the hon. Member for Eccles; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. RifkindI have been asked to reply.
We share the concern of the hon. Member at delays in VAT repayments due to British firms under the EC's eighth VAT Directive. Her Majesty's embassy in Rome is
62WBalance of payments figures for other countries and for the United Kingdom on a consistent basis as far as possible are published in the IMF's balance of payments publications. The latest available issue is the 1984 yearbook which contains annual figures up to end-1983 only. It is available in the Library.