§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing for the United Kingdom and the European Economic Community the ratio between the estimated contribution of agriculture to gross domestic product and the contribution of a 1 per cent. value added tax each year from 1980.
§ Mr. Ian StewartThe information requested is contained in the following table. The table gives figures for value added tax in agriculture, for the yield from a 1 per cent. tax on the harmonised value added tax base, and for the ratio between them. The data are given for 1980, 1981 and 1982. 1982 is the last year for which figures for value added in agriculture are available for the major countries of the European Economic Community; for Ireland and Luxembourg 1982 figures are not available, so the EC total is an estimate.
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Value added in agriculture, and the yield from one per cent. of the harmonised value added tax base 1980 1981 1982 (1) Value added in agriculture (millions of ecus) United Kingdom 7,318 8,861 10,205 European Community 64,043 77,840 89,363 (2) One per cent yield from harmonised VAT base (millions of ecus) United Kingdom 1,856 1,942 2,984 European Community 10,904 11,721 13,143 (3) Ratio (1)–(2) United Kingdom 3.94 4.56 3.42 European Community 5.87 6.64 6.80 Notes: (i) Value added in agriculture is the contribution to GDP, and covers agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing. Source: OECD National Accounts 1970–1982, except for France (UN Monthly Bulletin of Statistics); for Ireland and Luxembourg 1982 figures were not available, so agriculture was assumed to account for the same share of GDP as in 1981. (ii) Value added, measured in national currencies, was converted to ecus using ecu exchange rates (average for the year). Source: European Economy. (iii) The figures for one per cent. yield from the harmonised VAT base are Customs and Excise calculations based on European Commission figures and use Commission estimates for Greece. They were converted at budget exchange rates which vary significantly from year to year.
(iv) The Civil Service strike of 1981 delayed collection of some VAT until 1982. This is the major factor behind the exceptional 1982 figure for the United Kingdom's 1 per cent. VAT base. The budget figures for 1983 and 1984 are 1,926 and 2,927 million ecu respectively.