§ Mr. Adam Hunterasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he can give of the reduction in tax revenue if all retirement pensioners whose gross income were under £3,000 a year were exempt from paying tax.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonThe estimated cost for 1975–76 of exempting from tax all national insurance retirement pensioners and all widows with total net incomes under £3,000 is about £430 mil-448W lion. I regret that the available information does not distinguish widows in receipt of a retirement pension from other widows. "Total net incomes" are as defined in Inland Revenue Statistics 1975, page 42, paragraph 5.