§ Mr. Rookerasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if, since he gave his answer to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Perry Barr, 28th June 1977 column 91, he has been able to ascertain the information about the total amount of income tax payable by persons whose weekly incomes are consistently below their entitlement levels of supplementary benefit or family income supplement.
§ Mr. Robert Sheldon,pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 19th June 1978; Vol. 952, c. 41], circulated the following answer:
Very few, if any, families would be liable to pay income tax if their net disposable income—including benefits available to those in work—were less than it would be if they were in receipt of supplementary benefit; but some three-quarters of families eligible for family income supplement are also liable to pay income tax, almost all of it at the lower rate.
The total tax yield in 1978–79 from these families is not known. If their income remained at the level in which the family income supplement was based, the tax yield would be of the order of £million.