§ Mr. Matthew TaylorTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the cost of increasing the value added tax threshold for small businesses by(a) 10 per cent., (b) 20 per cent., (c) 50 per cent. and (d) 100 per cent. per year; and if he will make a statement. [127494]
§ Mr. TimmsCustoms and Excise do not have reliable current estimates of the cost of substantial increases in the VAT registration threshold. A description of the difficulties involved in predicting the effect of large changes in the threshold is contained in "The VAT Shortfall: Report of the Working Group on VAT Receipts and Forecasts", Treasury Occasional Paper No. 9, September 1997. Table A.13 of the Budget 2000 Financial Statement and Budget Report contains an estimate of the Exchequer cost of indexing the VAT registration and deregistration thresholds in line with inflation.