Window Tax

This October, Parliament sees the second reading of a private member's bill to introduce a tax on window shopping. Kevin Swindler, MP for somewhere damp, has drafted the bill in response to a downturn in retail sales and the consequential fall in tax revenue to the treasury. If the bill receives Royal Assent, it means that anyone pausing to view goods in a shop window for more than thirty seconds will be liable to pay 20% of the purchase price.

Critics of the proposal have claimed that the tax will be almost impossible to collect, and will bring in less revenue than an alternative scheme to fine pedestrians for speeding.