Mr. H. Wilsonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the estimated cost to the Revenue in 1955–56 or in the most recent convenient year of Income Tax child allowances, of occupational pension schemes, and of life assurance relief, respectively.
§ Mr. H. MacmillanThe estimated cost of the child allowance for Income Tax in 1955–56 is £200 million. Statistics of occupational pension schemes are incomplete but on the basis of such information as is available the cost of the relief given in 1955–56 is estimated to be of the order of £100 million; this figure includes the relief on both employers' and employees' contributions and on the interest income of the funds, less the tax charged on pensions paid. Life assurance relief is estimated to cost £35 million, of which about £5 million represents relief given in this form for employees' contributions to pension schemes and is therefore already covered by the estimate under that heading.