§ Mr. Wallasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give figures for the years 1969 to 1977 showing (a) the basic personal allowance for a single man, (b) the average industrial wage, and (c) the
596WFrench franc, the West German mark and the Japanese yen.
§ Mr. Robert Sheldon,pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 27th June 1978; Vol. 952, c. 499], gave the following information:
percentage of income taken in direct taxation for a single man earning the average wage and qualifying for only the basic personal allowances.
§ Mr. Robert Sheldon,pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 22nd June 1978: 597W Vol. 952, c. 304], gave the following Information:
Year … … … … Single allowance Average manual earnings Proportion of earnings paid in income tax … £ £ per cent. 1969–70 … … … … 255 1,291 21.7 1970–71 … … … … 325 1,459 22.9 1971–72 … … … … 325 1,617 22.4 1972–73 … … … … 460 1,843 20.5 1973–74 … … … … 595 2,124 21.6 1974–75 … … … … 625 2,582 25.0 1975–76 … … … … 675 3,141 27.5 1976–77 … … … … 735 3,552 27.8 1977–78 … … … … 945 3.879 25.7 For 1969–70 the figures are based on the Department of Employment estimates of the average earnings of full-time adult male manual workers in October 1969. For 1970–71 to 1976–77 the figures used are the averages of the New Earnings Survey estimates of the average earnings of full-time adult male manual workers at the start and finish of each tax year. To give an estimated figure for 1977–78 the April 1977 NES figure has been updated to October 1977 by the monthly index of average earnings.
For the years up to 1972–73 the man was entitled in addition to earned income relief. He could therefore earn more than the single person's allowance before becoming liable to tax. The final column takes account of this relief. The only direct tax relevant to this calculation is income tax. Employee's national insurance contributions are not included.