HC Deb 31 July 1978 vol 955 c66W
Mr. Knox

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many applications from married women asking to be assessed separately from their husbands for income tax purposes have been received in each of the past five years.

Mr. Robert Sheldon

This information is not available, but a sample survey carried out in 1975 indicated that about 20,000 couples claimed separate assessment for income tax purposes, and that in nearly 60 per cent. of these cases the wife was the claimant, either alone or jointly with her husband.