§ Mr. Cormackasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would the loss of revenue in the current financial year if the highest rates of tax on investment income were 65 per cent., 75 per cent. or 85 per cent.
§ Mr. Robert Sheldon,pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 15th March 1978; Vol. 946, c. 239], gave the following information:
Income tax is charged on total taxable income regardless of the source of the income, and there are difficulties in distinguishing the proportion of tax relating to income from any one source. On the assumption that investment income represents the top slice of income, the estimated loss of revenue at 1977–78 income levels would be of the following orders of magnitude:
HIGHEST RATE AND LOSS OF REVENUE £m 65 per cent. … … … 100 to 200 75 per cent. … … … 50 to 100 85 per cent. … … … 0 to 50