Halving the policy gap, all else equal, would on average raise a very substantial 2.3 percent of GDP. Adjusting social transfers to protect the poorest from the subsequent price increases would reduce the revenue gain, but by no means eliminate it. For the United Kingdom, for instance, Crawford, Keen, and Smith (2010) show that the revenue gain from applying the standard VAT rate to food and other sensitive items would be about halved if transfers were put in place to compensate the poorest 40 percent.