§ John MannTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost implication to the Treasury of all pensioners being exempt from income tax for the first £10,000 of their earnings; and how many pensioner households this would affect. [171641]
§ Dawn Primarolo[holding answer 10 May 2004]: The cost of exempting the first £10,000 of income from income tax for all pensioners would be £2.2 billion in 2004–05. This measure would affect approximately 3.0 million pensioner households. This estimate is based on the 2001–02 Family Resources Survey, and excludes any behavioural response to the change. Well over half the cost is accounted for by the top 20 per cent. of pensioner households.