Income Tax (Hansard, 25 November 1994)

§ Sir George Young

Cutting tax rates has improved incentives at all levels and has encouraged entrepreneurial initiative upon which the nation depends. The figures in the table take no account of any behavioural changes resulting from the changes in the higher rates of tax. We believe that if the former higher rates of tax had continued fewer people would now have achieved incomes on which the higher rates would be payable.

Information for 1992–93 is given in the table. Figures for earlier years were given in the reply to the hon. Member on 17 December 1993, Official Report, column 970. The table shows the direct revenue costs for a full year, compared with re-introduced tax rates of 45,50,55 and 60 per cent. The band widths for the tax rate schedule have been calculated by uprating the corresponding parts of the 1987–88 regime by movements in the retail prices index as in the statutory indexation formula. The estimates have been calculated to reflect only the changes in the higher rates of tax and exclude any effects of the introduction of independent taxation in 1990–91 and the restriction of mortgage interest relief to the basic rate from 1991–92. Some regional estimates are based on small samples and all amounts are given to the nearest £50 million.

463W

	Number of taxpayers benefiting and change in tax revenue resulting form abolition of rates in excess of 40 per cent.
Region of residence	Numbers thousands	Amount £ million
North	40	100
Yorkshire and Humberside	70	200
North west	90	200
East Midlands	70	200
West Midlands	90	200
East Anglia	40	100
South east	620	2,300
South west	90	250
Wales	30	50
Scotland	80	200
Northern Ireland	20	50
United Kingdom¹	1,240	3,900
¹ includes members of the forces and merchant navy and a small number of civil servants serving overseas who are not all allocated to regions.

Stamp duty			1992–93			1992–93
Numbers of transactions processed	Property	Securities	Other	Total	Property	Securities	Other	Total
Belfast	49,884	5,257	17,692	72,833	52,952	4,664	15,122	72,738
Birmingham	173,015	98,661	3,455	275,131	102,441	118,326	14,816	235,583
Bristol	130,074	65,894	26,770	225,738	88,157	53,311	22,441	163,909
Cardiff	90,266	36,470	26,702	156,438	65,189	30,942	21,462	117,593
Edinburgh	90,209	163,736	28,375	282,320	50,245	118,728	18,929	187,902
Leeds¹	159,708	34,936	34,533	234,177	96,113	30,332	39,144	167,589
Liverpool	139,092	93,060	23,630	255,782	87,096	86,886	12,765	186,747
London	194,132	727,416	315,803	1,237,351	179,489	771,319	136,761	1,087,569
Manchester	165,125	50,524	15,627	231,276	97,533	37,438	15,198	150,169
Newcastle	101,786	31,095	19,479	152,360	59,745	29,367	13,799	102,811
Nottingham¹	159,751	15,897	25,897	201,545	88,300	14,211	31,843	134,354
Total	1,458,042	1,322,946	542,963	3,324,951	969,280	1,295,524	342,280	2,607,064
¹ Offices closed March 1993.

Stamp duty			1993–94			1994–95 (Up to September)
Numbers of transactions processed	Property	Securities	Other	Total	Property	Securities	Other	Total
Belfast	56,371	5,539	17,460	78,370	47,132	3,784	233	51,149
Birmingham	141,908	98,631	10,706	251,245	63,717	65,342	6,954	136,013
Bristol	120,311	76,119	31,446	227,876	72,518	49,739	12,098	134,355
Cardiff	86,702	35,304	26,233	148,239	55,436	16,632	3,463	75,531
Edinburgh	45,161	128,678	17,810	191,648	20,085	90,048	8,441	123,524
Leeds^*	6,522	2,539	1,416	10,477	—	—	—	—
Liverpool	132,649	93,854	19,497	24,600	82,147	60,638	4,619	147,404
London	245,867	383,667	116,125	1,200,659	132,924	517,286	35,686	685,896
Manchester	158,115	68,153	26,779	253,047	83,097	42,785	10.368	136,190
Newcastle	89,197	38,284	16,796	144,277	63,066	18,005	3,671	84,762
Nottingham¹	5,730	1,101	2,733	9,584	—	—	—	—
Total	1,087,533	1,386,869	287,001	2,761,403	625,032	864,259	85,533	1,574,924
¹ Offices closed March 1993

Counter customers	1991–92	1992–93	1993–94	1994–95 (To September)
Belfast		13,084	13,818	5,605
Birmingham		10,389	11,171	5,979
Bristol		5,925	6,034	3,066
Cardiff		2,091	2,160	1,137
Edinburgh		10,884	10,625	5,705
Leeds¹		4,164	329	—