§ Mr. Hannamasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the estimated cost of allowing, as a deduction from income for tax purposes, payments under deed of covenant by individuals to charities, assuming that no additional covenants were generated by such relief.
§ Mr. Robert Sheldon,pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 12th February 1976; Vol. 905, c. 307], gave the following information:
Relief is already allowed for such payments for purposes of basic rate tax. I regret that the informaton on which to base an estimate of the additional cost of allowing the relief at the higher rates of tax is not available. There would be substantial staff costs.