§ Mr. D. E. Thomasasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many lone parents received the additional personal tax allowance; and how many of these
80Wwith two and four children under 5 years, and (b) families with one, two and four children between 5 and 11 years of age, where husbands are earning three-quarters of average wage, the average wage, twice the average wage and five times the average wage.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonThe figures are as follows:
are lone fathers and how many are lone mothers.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonAbout 150,000 lone fathers and 250,000 lone mothers received the additional personal tax allowance for the income tax year 1974– 75, the latest for which information is available.
§ Mr. D. E. Thomasasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the average time taken by the Inland Revenue to calculate the tax code for a lone parent who has started work without one.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonThe time it takes to provide an accurate tax code for any employee who starts work without one depends on a number of factors, the most significant being the extent to which information is needed by the tax office from the employee and the speed with 81W which that information is supplied. Other factors are the time taken by the employer to tell the tax office about the new employee, inquiries that may have to be made by the tax office to other tax offices about earlier employments, etc., and postal delays. It is unusual for a code to reach the employer less than two or more than five weeks after the employee starts work. The tax affairs of lone parents are often complicated, particularly where someone else may be entitled to a share of the tax allowances for the children, and it may, therefore, take nearer five weeks than two to provide many of them with codes; in some circumstances it may only be possible to provide a provisional code in this time. Tax offices give priority to the issue of codes for employee who start work without them.
§ Mrs. Wiseasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much it would cost to raise the additional tax allowance which is given to widowed mothers and other lone parents with dependent children, and which now brings them up to the married man's tax allowance, up to the level of the tax allowance given to married men over 65 years of age.
§ Mr. Robert Sheldon,pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 19th May 1977; Vol. 932, c. 278], gave the following information:
In order to raise the allowance given to single parents to the level of the married age allowance, the additional personal allowance would have to be increased from £420 to £890. At 1977–78 income levels, and assuming full implementation of the Budget proposals, the cost of this increase would be about £35 million.
§ Mrs. Wiseasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what would be the extra cost of increasing the lone parent's additional tax relief to £695 instead of £420;
(2) what would be the extra cost of increasing the lone parent's additional tax relief to £490 instead of £420.
§ Mr. Robert Sheldon,pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 23rd May 1977; Vol. 932, c. 342]. gave the following information:
At 1977–78 income levels, and assuming full implementation of the Budget 82W proposals, the cost of increasing the additional person allowance from £420 to (a) £490 and (b) £695 would be about £6 million and £21 million respectively.