VAT and the arts
Sir: Mr Kilroy-Silk, the recently appointed PPS to Mr Hugh Jenkins, Points out (March 22) that Mr Jenkins now fears that if the burden of VAT is lifted from the arts in this country it may be reimposed by reasons of harmonisation with EEC practice. However, none other than Mr Healey, when receiving a deputation on the sabject of VAT on the arts, and asked by Mr Clement Freud, MP, as to Whether he would not have to be inhibited by the Common Market attitude to VAT when considering zero-rating the arts, replied, briefly and crushingly, "Fiddlesticks" (Guardian, February 19). Mr Jenkins himself made a pronouncement on this topic as recently as his general election press conference (Labour Party News Release, September 27, 1974). He said that the EEC Will not remove the tax and added: "If it ,saYs anything at all — which is unprobable — it will not be until 1976 or even 1977, and then it will certainly not he a directive to remove the tax from the arts as a whole nor even from the Publicly supported theatre — not the commercial theatre, nor the cinema. The draft EEC directive, from which ki7lis story probably stems, deals with AT harmonisation as a whole, and is only at Secretariat level. So if we want quick and certain relief, we must act on our own . . . if we want to get the arts relieved of this tax quickly, Labour is our only chance. I have made no secret of the fact that I am continually Pressing my colleague the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the point and he does not mind my saying so. We make no 12,ronlises but Labour's track record on ,ne arts suggests that here we deliver more than we promise, which is a very pod thing for a Government to do . . . .we can act independently from the EEC this matter and in my view, we should uo so:,
In r Parentheses one may add that the Parentheses, of the European par
liaMent, supported by the Commission, favours exemption from VAT for the Works of authors, writers, journalists, cotnposers, musicians, actors and lecturers and proposes that original Works of art, antiques and collectors' Items should also be exempted. We await further information from wilr Kilroy-Silk as to what his Minister ProPC■ses to do to deliver 'quick and certain relief' by acting now, as the
Minister responsible in the British Parliament.
Ernie Money 5 Paper Buildings, Temple, London EC4
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