Clause 25 - Relief from vat on acquisition if importation would attract relief
Finance Bill
11:15 am
Mr Christopher Chope (Christchurch, Conservative)
I am grateful to the Financial Secretary for that response. However, the correspondent was not writing to me. I have a copy of the letter with me. It was sent by a company chairman to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, addressing her as ''Dear Patricia.'' I am disappointed that the Financial Secretary does not have a copy of the letter and that he has not been invited by the Secretary of State to respond to it. It states:
''The point which concerns me is the proposal to ease the VAT regime for importers. I was particularly concerned about the cash flow advantages to importers inherent in the VAT regime many years ago and after strong representation by myself and others, the rules were changed such that importers were then at a cash flow disadvantage rather than an advantage which they had held before.
I now see a proposal which suggests that importers could again be put at a cash flow advantage compared to those who buy from EU sources and this I find totally unreasonable and unacceptable.''
I am not sure that anything that the Financial Secretary has said will allay those concerns.