asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer why, in addition to Customs Duty, Purchase Tax is levied on the contents of parcels arriving in the United Kingdom as unsolicited gifts to the addressees from friends and relatives resident in other countries, having regard to the fact that the articles on which the tax is levied have not been purchased in the United Kingdom by the recipients; and whether he is aware that this demand is causing great dissatisfaction, both to the senders of these gifts and to those receiving them.

Purchase Tax is levied because the law so requires. As I have often explained, a general exemption from Purchase Tax for imported gifts would be open to grave abuse, and would be unfair as between individuals.