§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the documents produced by his Department available to hon. Members on the subject of the effects of ending(a) income tax allowances and (b) personal income tax allowances.
§ Mr. Lilley[holding answer 12 December 19891]: A list of the direct revenue costs of tax allowances and reliefs is given in table 21.1.25 of "The Government's Expenditure Plans 1989–90 to 1991–92" (Cm. 621); but the figures cannot in general be interpreted as the tax yield from withdrawing a particular allowance or relief, because of the difficulty of estimating the behavioural changes which might result from such a move. The Financial Statement and Budget Report sets out the effects of proposed amendments to the tax system each year; and the Autumn Statement sets out the revenue effects of illustrative tax changes.