Mr. Ted Fletcherasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer why refunds of income tax due to overpayment by married women are made payable to the husband; and what steps he proposes to take to end this practice.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonUnder our system of aggregating the income of a married couple for tax purposes, the husband is normally responsible in law for meeting tax on the joint income and is thus entitled to any repayment. However, in practice, most repayments due in respect of the earnings of a wife—e.g., because of sickness or unemployment—are made direct to the wife either by the employer through PAYE or by the Revenue. Repayments are also made direct to the wife