To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the average overall tax burden for a taxpayer in the United Kingdom for each of the last five years. [67731]

Information on income tax as a percentage of median income for each of the last five years is shown in table 2.8 of Inland Revenue Statistics 1998, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House. Estimating the impact of indirect taxes is imprecise as spending patterns vary widely between households with the same composition and income.