§ Mr. Woodburnasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what extra tax income would arise if all above £2,000 a year of incomes were taken; and what the transfer of the estimated income from the Selective Employment Tax would represent if it were collected in extra Surtax, Income Tax, Purchase Tax, or taxes on cigarettes, or on beer, respectively.
§ Mr. MacDermotIf the excess of all incomes after tax over £2,000 were taken in tax the extra revenue, on the basis of the latest published figures, would be about £550 million in a full year. To produce £220 million (the estimated net yield from the Selective Employment Tax in a full year) the standard rate of income tax would have to be increased by about 10½d. or all the Purchase Tax rates by more than one-third. The yield of the surtax would have to be more than doubled to provide the same revenue; it would be impractable to collect so large an amount from cigarettes or beer because of the effect of heavy increases in the duty upon the level of consumption.