§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Prime Minister whether she will publish in the Official Report the classes of goods subject to zero rating for value added tax purposes which (a) are and (b) are not covered by her undertaking not to agree to any proposal from the EEC for the imposition of value added tax in such cases, together with the Government's estimate of sales in the current year of each class of item and the corresponding rate of tax being proposed by the EEC Commission.
§ The Prime MinisterI have nothing to add to the replies I have already given which make perfectly clear the United Kingdom's position on the European Commission's proposals.
The estimated sales of items that are currently zero-rated in the United Kingdom and the rates of tax proposed by the Commission in each case are:
Sales 1 VAT rate band proposed by the Commission per cent. £ billion Food 30.5 4–9 Young children's clothing and footwear 2.5 14–20 Fuel 13.0 4–9 Books, newspapers and magazines 3.5 4–9 Internal passenger transport 4.5 4–9 Construction 8.0 14–20 1 To nearest 0.5 billion.