§ Mr. Freudasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the cost of eliminating tax liability of earned income for the first five years of retirement for (a) men over 65 years of age and (b) women over 60 years of age; and what is his estimate of the numbers of persons who would benefit in each category.
§ Dr. GilbertI regret that it is not possible to estimate the cost of exempting from tax the earned income of the elderly in respect of the first five years only of retirement. For 1971–72, the latest year532W for which information is available, the estimated cost of such a concession for all retired persons would be about £400 million. About 1.5 million taxpayers would benefit, counting married couples as one. Of this number about 340,000 are single women or widows.