Widows (Taxation)

HC Deb 08 December 1977 vol 940 cc1626-7

8. Mr. Durant

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has any immediate plans to meet widows' organisations concerning their tax treatment.

Mr. Robert Sheldon

I have no immediate plans to meet widows' organisations, but I am well aware of the problems facing widows, including those relating to tax, and I shall continue to bear these in mind.

Mr. Durant

Is the Minister aware of the deep resentment felt by working widows because they take home less pay in their ray packets than do married women doing similar jobs? Will he look at this matter again before the next Budget and either give small income relief or take the widows' pension out of the tax bracket altogether?

Mr. Sheldon

I am aware of the concern that has been expressed. Many widows fail to take account of the fact that the tax being deducted is deducted not only from their working wage but from their pension. Thus, a comparison between the tax paid by a widow and the tax paid by a colleague working in the same place does not take into account the tax being charged upon the pension itself, which is an important part of the tax being raised.

Mrs. Bain

Over and above the injustice of the taxation system as it operates on widows' pensions, is the Financial Secretary aware that after the initial six months' period widows' pensions are treated as a maintenance benefit and that that disqualifies widows from maintenance allowances for training schemes such as TOPS? Does he not consider that to be an injustice which should be altered immediately?

Mr. Sheldon

I think that most of the matters that the hon. Lady has raised are matters for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Services. The hon. Lady must be aware that the problem of widows and their pensions—this has been made clear in the representations that I have received—is widely felt also among divorced and separated people who, unfortunately, have been unable to make a success of marriage. Representations have been made forcibly to me, and a comparison has to be made between the circumstances of widows and those of other people who are equally entitled to our consideration.