§ Mr. Dewarasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the increase in the £100 tax allowance for blind persons required to restore the value in real terms of the allowance as recommended by the Royal Commission on the Taxation of Profits and Incomes in 1952; and what estimate he has made of the cost in a full financial year of raising the present allowance by that amount.
§ Mr. Harold LeverTo restore the value in real terms at April, 1954, of the £100 recommended in paragraph 203 of the Second Report of the Royal Commission, an increase of £47 10s. is needed. The cost of this increase is estimated at £350,000.
§ Mr. Dewarasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to compensate the employees of blind workshops whose tax liability has increased and whose net income has declined, as a result of recent changes in their pay structure and the decision that sums paid to make wages up to the basic minimum agreed for workers in blind workshops should be taxable.
§ Mr. Harold LeverUnder an agreement reached last year employees at workshops for the blind now receive a wage which exceeds the combined wage and augmentation allowance receivable under the old arrangements and is taxable in the ordinary way. Whether tax is due and, if so, how much will depend on the circumstances of particular cases. 135W Blind persons are, of course, entitled to a special personal allowance in the calculation of their liability to tax. There is no reason to suppose that the new wage structure has resulted in any general reduction in take-home pay, and I see no grounds for any compensation.
§ Mr. Dewarasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the cost to the Exchequer in a full financial year of the £100 tax allowance for the blind.
§ Mr. Harold Lever£¾ million.