Finance:Purchase Tax
The Purchase Tax was a tax levied between 1940[1] and 1973[1] on the wholesale value of luxury goods sold in the United Kingdom . Introduced on 21 October 1940, with the stated aim of reducing the wastage of raw materials during World War II, it was initially set at a rate of 33.33%.
The tax was subsequently set at differing rates dependent upon individual items' degree of "luxury"[2] as determined by the government of the day.[3]
The 33.33% rate was increased to 66% for cars costing over £1,000 in 1947 and this rate was extended to all cars from 1951. In 1953, it was reduced to 50%.[4]
In connection with the accession of the UK to the European Economic Community,[5] the Purchase Tax was abolished on 2 April 1973 and replaced by the Value Added Tax (VAT), currently 20%.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Taxation – Key dates". Parliament.UK. http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/private-lives/taxation/keydates. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
- ↑ "Purchase Tax". Peterice. http://www.peterice.com/purchasetax.htm. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
- ↑ "VAT: a brief history of tax". The Guardian. 31 December 2010. https://www.theguardian.com/money/2010/dec/31/vat-brief-history-tax. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
- ↑ "Purchase Tax History". The Autocar (London: Iliffe & Sons Ltd): 985. 24 December 1954.
- ↑ "Post-war taxation". Parliament.UK. http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/private-lives/taxation/overview/postwar/. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
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