35. Miss Wardasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in view of the reliefs in taxation given to married women at work in addition to the wife's allowance, he will add a footnote to the tables in the Financial Statement drawing attention to this relief.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterI see no reason to distinguish this relief from the other reliefs referred to in the note at the head of these tables.
Miss WardIs my hon. Friend aware that most other reliefs are embodied in the tables for the taxpayer to see and that this relief of £65 million is not referred to at all? Is it not fair that all taxpayers should know the extent of their reliefs, and particularly in regard to the application of equal pay?
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterI see no reason why for this purpose we should treat this allowance any differently from other important allowances, such as the dependent relative allowance, the housekeeper allowance, life assurance relief and so on.
36. Miss Wardasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many potential taxpayers are exempt through the application of allowances; and what percentage of the total tax-paying community this represents.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterI would refer my hon. Friend to Table 21 of the 95th Report of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue (Cmd. 8726), which gives the latest figures available.
Miss WardI am sorry that I did not hear the last few words of the sentence. Could my hon. Friend have that information embodied in HANSARD in order to save everybody's time?
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterI doubt whether it would effect an economy, even if Mr. Speaker would permit it, for me to incorporate in the OFFICIAL REPORT of the House a large part of a document which has already been published.
§ Dr. KingTaking the Minister's last two answers together, may I ask why he gives this unfair extra Income Tax relief to households in which there are two wage earners?
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterWithout accepting the implication of that question, it is, of course, a quite different one.