HC Deb 15 April 1947 vol 436 cc73-4

I have considered carefully which, among the various alternative forms of Income Tax relief, should be my first choice. I have decided in favour of an increase in the earned income relief, which I increased last year from one-tenth to one-eighth, maintaining the maximum at £150. I now propose further to increase it from one-eighth to one-sixth, lifting the maximum from £150 to £250, and thus, bringing this relief back to where it stood in 1940, before the introduction of the postwar credit arrangements. This will give every worker an additional incentive. I estimate the cost of this relief at £62 million in a full year, and £55 million this year.