How much of your shopping bill is tax?

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You probably don't know, I certainly don't. So few of our receipts list VAT and none list other taxes such as fuel or alcohol duty. You know how much income tax, national insurance and council tax you pay, but you don't know how much you pay in indirect taxation.

Personally, I'm in favour of transparency in such matters. If the government is going to take my money off me, I want to know how much. So I was interested to see that Nigel Evans, Conservative MP for Ribble Valley, introduced a Private Members' Bill on the 1st of July this year. The Transparent Taxation (Receipts) Bill aims to make it a legal requirement that receipts list the total amount of tax paid.

Its second reading is on the 17th October and while Private Members' Bills hardly ever make it onto the statue books, it should be an interesting debate. I'm sure, like me, you'll be eager for the publication of Hansard on the 18th. No? Just me then.

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