41. Miss Wardasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in his next Financial Statement, he will show the Income Tax position of a man and wife both earning, and comparable tables for a man and wife both earning, with children.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterThe total tax payable by a married couple, both of whom are earning, may vary according to the proportion each contributes to the joint income, and the tables suggested would, therefore, have to show, for each figure of joint income, a number of different figures of tax depending on the share earned by each spouse. Such tables would be too cumbersome for inclusion in the Financial Statement.
Miss WardAs a large number of married women get a personal allowance which is denied to other married women, would it not be fair to let the country know about this valuable concession? Does not my hon. Friend's answer mean that it would not be convenient to let the country know the value of these concessions?
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterIt does not seem to me that there is any difficulty in the people concerned ascertaining the precise degree of the concession to which they are entitled. What my hon. Friend asked me was whether these figures could be given in the financial statement, and the answer is that as they vary in almost every case in accordance with the proportion earned by the husband or by the wife, it would he not feasible to produce something which looked rather like the Encyclopædia Britannica.