§ Mr. Giles Shawasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the cost to the Revenue of moving the threshold 116W of surcharge for age retired people with no earned income from employment to £3,000 from (a)£1,500 and (b) £2,000; and how many assessments would be involved in these changes.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonThe investment income surcharge applies to elderly persons with investment income of £1,500 or more whether or not they also have earned income—either income from employment or from pensions, which are treated as earned income. A rate of 10 per cent. applies to investment incomes above the £1,500 threshold but below £2,000; above £2,000 the rate is 15 per cent.
Information is not available on which to base an estimate of the cost of raising the investment income surcharge threshold to £3,000 for elderly persons with no income from employment. The cost of raising the threshold to £3,000 for all elderly persons is estimated at £40 million for 1975–76; some 150,000 taxpayers would be removed from liability to the surcharge.