HC Deb 27 July 1978 vol 954 cc1785-6
12. Mr. McCrindle

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has any further plans to alter the position regarding the taxation of married women.

Mr. Joel Barnett

We have already legislated to extend the statutory rights of wives to their own PAYE repayments, and we are looking at the fundamental question of the aggregation of wives' incomes with their husbands.

Mr. McCrindle

But are not the changes which the Government made recently purely cosmetic? Is not the truly satisfactory solution to the problem to move to a situation in which a woman is automatically entitled to be assessed separately from her husband, with an equalisation of tax allowances? Is that the direction in which the Government propose to travel?

Mr. Barnett

I am not sure whether it is cosmetic. Many wives are extremely concerned about the fact that pay-as-youearn repayments were made to their husbands. The correspondence I received did not make me feel that it was a cosmetic action that we had taken.

As regards the method of dealing with the problem of aggregation, one way is the way which the hon. Gentleman suggested, but I think he knows that if he looks at the matter very carefully he will find that there are substantial problems that cannot be solved by a simple, instant policy solution such as is normally put forward by the Opposition.

Mr. Dykes

Does the Chief Secretary believe that, apart from paying the tax and being assessed, wives should have a legal right to know how much their husbands earn, if they wish to know that information?

Mr. Barnett

That is an entirely different question.