§ 2. Sir B. Rhys Williamsasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if, with his Budget, he will publish tables showing the net effect of the direct taxes on income at the rates proposed, family allowances and National Insurance contributions over a standard range of incomes and family circumstances.
§ The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Mr. Maurice Macmillan)When changes in personal taxation are proposed in the Budget, tables are usually published in the Financial Statement and Budget Report to show their effects on taxpayers in different circumstances. To take other factors into account would mask the effect of the tax changes and make the tables unduly complex.
§ Sir B. Rhys WilliamsWould my hon. Friend encourage his Department, in approaching the subject of the reform of pay-as-you-earn, to recognise that it is dealing not simply with a fiscal problem but with a matter which has social implications in the very widest sense?
§ Mr. MacmillanMy hon. Friend can rest assured that the Department is aware of this. It is simply that publishing a large number of tables with a very large number of variations would make the document unduly complicated.