§ Mr. Sillarsasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the number of taxpayers in Scotland and England who receive relief of tax on mortgage interest payments and the option mortgage scheme, respectively and if he will show the total amount of relief in each case.
§ Dr. GilbertEstimates for 1973–74. the latest year available, are as follows:
Tax relief on mortgage interest payments Cost of relief Number of cases (*) (£m.) ('000) Scotland 17 200 England 463 4,700
Option mortgages Cost of subsidies† Numbers‡ (£m.) ('000) Scotland 0.4 4 England and Wales 49.6 596 (*) The number of cases shown is the estimated number claiming tax relief on mortgage interest payments. Some of these may not have been liable to tax in 1973–74 but it is not possible to say how many. (†) The figures shown are the amount of Exchequer subsidies paid in 1973–74 to building societies and local authorities providing option mortgages. Since some building societies record their claims centrally at head offices in England it is thought that the figure shown for Scotland [...]s an underestimate of the true cost. (‡) The numbers shown are the cumulative figures since the option mortgage scheme began in 1968. It is not possible to estimate how many of these represent mortgages current in 1973–74. Nor is it possible to distinguish taxpayers from [...]hose not liable to tax.