§ Mr. McQuarrieasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will abolish the present legislation of the taxing of a widow's pension when the widow takes up gainful employment and has the gross value of the widow's pension added to her earned income for taxation purposes.
§ Mr. Peter Rees[pursuant to his reply, 15 December 1980, c. 34]: I have no plans to exempt the widow's pension from income tax.
§ Mr. McQuarrieasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what income tax payments were collected in the years 1977, 1978 and 1979 from persons in receipt of widow's pensions who took up paid employment; and what proportion of this tax was attributable to the widow's pension benefit.
§ Mr. Peter Rees[pursuant to his reply, 15 December 1980, c. 343]: Information on which to base estimates of tax payments by widows in employment is readily available only for 1979–80. For that year the payments were about £300 million. Most, but not all, of these widows were in receipt of national insurance widow's pension or other widow's benefit.
Tax liabilities are calculated by reference to total income. In none of the years referred to would there have been liability on a national insurance widow's pension in the absence of other income.