§ Sir J. Mellorasked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT Tables, on the lines of Table II in Command Paper 6348 of 1942, indicating the position of two persons when married and unmarried respectively at various income levels, and in varying proportions of earned and unearned incomes?
§ Mr. AsshetonIn Table II in the White Paper on the Taxation of Weekly Wage Earners (Cmd. 6348 of 1942) only earned income was dealt with so that there were only two variable factors, the earned income of the husband and that of the wife, to be taken into account, but if investment income is also to be taken into account, there will be four variable factors (the earned and investment incomes of the husband and of the wife) and consequently it is not practicable to give a full Table on the same lines. Some examples are, however, appended and these show that the total tax payable is normally less if the taxpayers are assessed as married than if they are assessed as two single persons except where the wife has a relatively large investment income and an earned income of less than£80.