Between October 1940 and 1973 the UK had a consumption tax calledÂ*Purchase Tax, which was levied at different rates depending on goods' luxuriousness.[5]Â*Purchase Tax was applied to the wholesale price, initially at a rate of 331â�„3%. This was doubled in April 1942 to 662â�„3%, and further increased in April 1943 to a rate of 100%, before reverting in April 1946 to 331â�„3% again. Unlike VAT, Purchase Tax was applied at the point of manufacture and distribution, not at the point of sale. The rate of Purchase Tax at the start of 1973, when it gave way to VAT, was 25%.