§ 36. Mr. McCabeTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the impact of the Budget on those who claim tax relief on child maintenance payments. [79481]
§ Dawn PrimaroloThe tax relief for maintenance payments introduced by the last Government in 1988 is not a relief for child maintenance. It is a relief for payments made to a former husband or wife following separation or divorce. The former husband or wife may use the payments they receive to maintain a child, but equally the relief applies where there is no child in the family.
The Inland Revenue estimate that the tax relief will be worth an average of £220 in the tax year 1999–2000, before it is withdrawn from 2000–01. This includes the transitional relief for those paying under maintenance arrangements set up before 15 March 1988.