§ Mr. WareingTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of British Tax revenue was made up from(a) direct taxes, and (b) indirect taxes in each of the years 1979, 1983, 1987 and 1990; and what were the comparable figures in 1990 for each of the other European Community countries.
§ Mr. Maude[holding answer 29 November 1991]: Government taxes, including rates, are classified in the national accounts as taxes on income, expenditure and capital, and not as direct and indirect taxes. Non-tax items, such as social security contributions and the community charge, are classified separately. Internationally, there is no general agrement on the criteria for distinguishing between direct and indirect taxes. Broadly speaking, however, taxes on income and capital can be regarded as direct taxes and taxes on expenditure as indirect taxes. On this basis, including the relevant non-tax items, the figures requested for the United Kingdom are as follows:
Percentage of total taxes, national insurance contributions and community charge Taxes on income1 Per cent. Taxes on expenditure2 Per cent. 1979 46.2 53.8 1983 48.7 51.3 1987 46.7 53.3 1990 51.5 48.5 1 Taxes on income, taxes on capital, employees' social security contributions, community charge and royalties. 2 Taxes on expenditure (including rates) and employers' social security contributions. Data for other European Community countries can be found in the OECD publication "Revenue Statistics of OECD Member Countries." The last year for which complete figures are presently available is 1989 and these are shown in the table. The allocation between direct and indirect taxes corresponds, as far as is possible on the available data, with that used in the preceding table. Because of minor differences in accounting conventions, the component OECD figures for the United Kingdom do not in all cases correspond to those given in the national accounts.
41W
1989 Taxes on income1 Per cent. Taxes on goods and services2 Per cent. Belgium 51 49 Denmark 62 38 France 37 63 Germany 53 47 Greece 37 63 Ireland 41 59 Italy 47 54 Luxembourg 53 47 Netherlands 54 46 Portugal 38 63
1989 Taxes on income1 Per cent. Taxes on goods and services2 Per cent. Spain 41 59 United Kingdom 47 53 1 Taxes on income and profits, social security contributions except those by employers, and other taxes. 2 Taxes on goods and services, employers' social security contributions, payroll taxes, and property taxes.