asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether increases in the turnover limit for the registration of small businesses so as to maintain the value of the limit in real terms under the Sixth Directive on value added tax will be calculated from the date when the current limit was first fixed or from a later date; and, if the latter, what date.

The Sixth Directive will permit member States to maintain the real value of exemption limits for small businesses as at the time when the limit was introduced into the national value added tax system.