§ Mr. Silvesterasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his current estimate of the cost of implementing the individual taxation of a wife's investment income as set out in Cmnd. 8093; and by how much this total will be reduced following the abolition of investment income surcharge.
§ Mr. MooreOn the basis of the recorded distribution of investment income between husband and wife, the overall cost in 1984–85 of the income election described in paragraphs 46 to 50 of the Green Paper "The Taxation of Husband and Wife" (Cmnd. 8093) is estimated to be about £300 million. This estimate takes account of the abolition of investment income surcharge, without which the estimate of the cost would have been about £40 million greater.
The estimates do not reflect the possible rearrangement of income between husband and wife which might occur in response to the change.