§ Mr. Hooleyasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of persons liable to pay income tax on earned income in 1975–76 as compared with 1974–75.
§ Mr. Robert Sheldon, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 9th May 1975; Vol. 891, c. 537], gave the following information:
Counting working wives separately, the number of persons liable to pay income tax on earned income, including pensions, is estimated to be 23.6 million in 1974–75. For 1975–76 it is estimated that the corresponding figure would have been 24.7 million before the Budget change, and will be 24.3 million after the Budget.