§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 10 January to the hon. Member for Bolton, North-East, (Mr. Thurnham),Official Report, column 7, if he will reproduce the answer together with columns showing the share of income coming to the top 1, 5 and 10 per cent.
§ Sir George Young[holding answer 24 January 1995]: The latest estimates for 1978–79 and 1983–84 to 1995–96 are given in the tables. Information for other years could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Estimates of income are based on information reported to tax offices and collected through annual surveys of personal incomes. For years before 1985–86, estimates exclude employees' contributions to occupational pension schemes and some investment income on which tax is deducted at source. For years up to and including 1989–90, married couples are counted as one taxpayer and their incomes are combined. Following the introduction of independent taxation, for 1990–91 onwards, husbands and wives are counted separately. Estimates are based on the surveys of personal incomes for years up to 1992–93 and projections of the 1992–93 survey for subsequent years; the latter are therefore provisional.