§ Mr. Freudasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the average loss in revenue through lost taxation of an additional man with a non-working wife and two children under 16 years who becomes unemployed in June 1982, for the year commencing June 1982; and how this figure compares with that for a man in the same family cirumstances for the year commencing June 1981.
§ Mr. Ridley[pursuant to his reply, 28 July 1982, c. 541.]: The income tax liability of the individual described would be about £1,660 less in 1982–83 than if he had remained in employment at average earnings between the beginning of June 1982 and the end of the financial year (taking average male earnings in 1982–83 as £160 per week). Any reduction in liability in 1983–84 would depend upon the income tax rates and allowances for that year, which have yet to be decided. The above figure assumes that the individual has no income tax allowances other than the basic personal allowance for a married man.
The corresponding reduction in liability for an individual in the same circumstances whose period of unemployment ran from June 1981-May 1982 would be about £2,060 in 1981–82 and 1982–83 taken together.