§ Mr. RiddickTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people pay composite rate tax on investment income(a) in total, (b) who have a tax liability and (c) who do not have a tax liability.
§ Mr. Norman LamontI regret that information is not available in the form requested. There were some 64 million accounts subject to composite rate and which earned over £1 interest in 1986–87, some of which were held by clubs or other non-individuals. Of these accounts, it is provisionally estimated that 49 million were held by investors whose composite rate interest would be wholly liable to tax in the absence of a composite rate system, and 13 million by investors none of whose composite rate interest would be liable. The balance of about 2 million accounts was held by investors, part of whose interest would be liable to tax if there were no composite rate system.