§ Mr. Goodhartasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer in view of the fact that it is possible to give an estimate of the number of children living abroad for whom an income tax allowance is claimed, but not to estimate the number of wives living abroad for whom a tax 194W allowance is claimed, what changes in procedure he will introduce so that the number of wives can be ascertained; and why it is possible to make an estimate in one case and not the other.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonNo direct information is available centrally about the numbers of non-resident children or wives for whom an income tax allowance is claimed, and it would be costly to set up the necessary machinery to provide such information. In the case of children an approximate estimate can be made by comparing the total number of child tax allowances with the number of family allowances—which are not given for children overseas—and making certain adjustments to allow for other differences in the precise coverage of the allowances.
§ Mr. Goodhartasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many of the 500,000 children living abroad for whom income tax allowance is claimed, reside in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, respectively.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonI regret that the information on which to base an estimate is not attainable.