§ Mr. Edward DaveyTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what(a) social security contributions and (b) taxes on income were as a percentage of household income in each year since 1999. [142219]
§ Ruth KellyThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Edward Davey, dated 8 December 2003:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking for social security contributions and taxes on income as a percentage of household income. (142219)Estimates in the following table are taken from Table 3 in the analysis "The effects of taxes and benefits on household income 2001–02" produced by the Office for National Statistics and published on 21st October 2003 on the National Statistics website at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/taxesbenefits.The analysis includes measures of income inequality for the United Kingdom as a whole based on data from the Expenditure and Food Survey (EPS), formerly the Family Expenditure Survey (FES). This is a sample survey covering about 7,500 households in the UK. The Family Resources Survey would have been an alternative source with a larger sample size, or National Accounts estimates for the households and non-profit institutions serving households (NPISH) sector, but the taxes and benefits analysis has been used for consistency with answers to other recent parliamentary questions.The table shows social security contributions and taxes on income as a percentage of gross income for UK households. Social security contributions are defined as employees' and self employed contributions to National Insurance and National Health Services. Taxes on income are defined as income tax less tax relief at source on life assurance premiums. Gross income includes income from earnings, occupational pensions and investments and cash benefits such as state retirement pensions and income support. It does not take account of deductions for taxes.
Social security contributions and taxes on income as as a percentage of gross income for ALL households, 1999–2000 to 2001–02 United Kingdom 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 Social security contributions 3.9 3.8 3.8 Taxes on income 13.4 13.7 13.8 Source:
Office for National Statistics, based on the analysis 'The effects of taxes and benefits on household income', published on the ONS website and in Economic Trends.