§ Mr. Whiteheadasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the change in the financial position of widows since the Budget; and whether he plans to raise the £30 tolerance level.
§ Mr. Peter Rees[pursuant to his reply, 3 April 1981, c. 136]: Widows will benefit from the increases in national insurance pension and other benefits which will take effect in November. In other respects, the financial effect of the Budget on widows is likely to be the same as on other members of the community who have similar incomes and patterns of expenditure. However, widows under 65 who have no income apart from the basic State pension will not have to pay tax in 1981–82 because any tax liability will be covered by the Inland Revenue's assessing tolerance. The Inland Revenue has no plans to increase the assessing tolerance.