§ Mr. SpearingTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has any further information to add to that contained in his answer to the hon. Member for Newham, South,Official Report, 24 March, columns 195–6, relating to the proposals of the Commission of the European Economic Community for extension of value added tax to specific goods or services hitherto exempt, together with the expected consequential yields to Her Majesty's Treasury.
§ Mr. LilleyThe hon. Member's previous question related specifically to zero rated, not exempt, items. The Commission has successfully challenged before the European Court the legal basis of the exemption of certain medical care goods. Of these, the only item with appreciable revenue implications is the supply of spectacles, where taxation at the standard rate of 15 per cent. would yield around £25 million per year.