asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the approximate yield of a 1 per cent. sales tax on all commodity transactions payable on actual cash receipts by seller.

It is not possible to make a reliable estimate since so much depends on what is deemed to be a commodity transaction payable in cash. As I told my hon. Friend in my letter of 28th January, the best estimate I can make of the total national turnover of goods and services is in the order of 3 to 3½ times the size of the national income. One per cent. of this total turnover is £400 million.

Will my hon. Friend not agree that a tax of this character, bringing in a similar amount to that brought in by Purchase Tax, would be more equitable, more easily borne and more easily distributed than the present Purchase Tax?

That is another question.