§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the reply of 15 March concerning the United Kingdom contribution to value added tax under the European Economic Community budget, Official Report, column 312, whether he will provide estimated figures for the United Kingdom for 1983 and 1984; and if he will include a further table extending the comparison to include customs, and so on, duties and his forecast for 1985.
§ Mr. Ian StewartThe figures for 1 per cent. yield from the VAT base for the years 1980 to 1983 have been revised by the European Commission since my reply of 15 March. The new data for these years and the further information requested is set out in the following table.
I regret that note (iv) to the table supplied in my earlier reply contained a typographical error. The budget figure for the United Kingdom's 1 per cent. VAT base for 1983 should have read 2,926 million ecu.
29WCouncil on 23 April 1985.
(iv) Greece joined the Community on 1 January 1981 but until 1 January 1986 will continue to make financial contributions linked tc GNP in lieu of VAT. The table therefore uses Commission estimates of a 1 per cent. VAT base for Greece for the period 1981 to 1985.
(v) The outturn figures to 1983 for the 1 per cent. yield were converted at budget exchange rates, which vary significantly from year to year. Those for traditional own resources were converted at the rates of exchange specified in the EC Regulation 2891/77, and convert national payments into ecu rates on the basis of the appropriate exchange rate which applied for the month in which payments were made.