§ Mr. Sproatasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what latest estimate he has made of the number of children living abroad, in respect of whom persons now resident in the United Kingdom are now benefiting in terms of child tax allowance.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonI would refer the hon. Member to my answer to the hon. Member for Islington, South and Finsbury (Mr. Cunningham) on 14th January 1977—[Vol. 923, c.574–5.] No more recent information is available.
§ Mr. Ovendenasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what official information he based his statement concerning the comparison between remittances and child tax allowances for overseas children in his letter to the former Chairman of the Community Relations Commission of 23rd March; and if he will publish this information.
§ Mr. Robert Sheldon, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 15th December 1977; Vol. 941, c. 324], gave the following information:
The letter in question referred to
the generally low level of remittances in relation to the value of allowances".This was based on the Inland Revenue's experience of the scale of remittances included in vouchers submitted in support of claims to income tax personal allowances in respect of dependants overseas. There is no comprehensive information suitable for publication.
§ Mr. Cormackasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the cost of increasing from £115 to £350 the amount of a child's unearned income at which child tax allowances begin to be lost; and how much of the cost would represent tax forgone on income from maintenance payments to a child.
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§ Mr. Robert Sheldon, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 16th December 1977; Vol. 941, c. 539], gave the following answer:
I regret that the information on which to base an estimate is not available without undue expenditure of time and resources.
§ Mr. Sproatasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) further to the answer to the hon. Member for Aberdeen, South on 6th December 1977 by the Secretary of State for Social Services that the estimated cost of child benefit in 1978–79 will be £1,650 million, what additional loss to the Treasury there will be in 1978–79 in respect of loss of revenue in respect of income not liable for income tax because of child tax allowance for children over 11 years of age;
(2) further to the answer to the hon. Member for Aberdeen, South on 6th December 1977 by the Secretary of State for Social Services that the estimated cost of child benefits in 1978–79 will be £1,650 million, what additional loss to the Treasury there will be in 1978–79 in respect of loss of revenue in respect of income not liable for income tax because of child tax allowance for children under 11 years of age.
§ Mr. Robert Sheldon, pursuant to his reply, [Official Report, 16th December 1977; Vol. 941, c. 539–40], gave the following information:
The cost in a full year of the child tax allowances at the level proposed for 1978–79
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Revenue raised from Rercentage of revenue* attribuable to Personal taxation†‡ Corporate taxation†£ million Personal taxation†‡ Corporate taxation† £ million £ million 1960 … 1,961 745 36.8 14.0 1961 … 2,214 848 37.7 14.4 1962 … 2,430 1,009 37.9 15.7 1963 … 2,480 887 38.8 13.9 1964 … 2,751 821 39.7 11.8 1965 … 3,297 762 42.2 9.8 1966 … 3,689 866 42.8 10.1 1967 … 4,069 1,188 41.6 12.1 1968 … 4,524 1,226 41.1 11.1 1969 … 5,139 1,291 41.0 10.3 1970 … 5,850 1,597 41.7 11.4 1971 … 6,424 1,454 44.0 10.0 1972 … 6,592 1,484 44.0 9.9 1973 … 7,390 1,903 44.1 11.3 1974 … 9,722 2,826 46.5 13.5 1975 … 14,268 2,269 53.4 8.5 1976 … 16,635 2,089 53.9 6.8 *Central Government revenue from taxes on income and taxes on expenditure. † Taxes on income only. ‡ After deducting tax credits on dividends from 1973. Source: National Income and Expenditure 1966–76. would be approximately £270 million for children aged 11 years and under, and approximately £230 million for children over 11 years in Great Britain at 1977–78 incomes and rates of tax.