§ Mr. MacGregorasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the revenue cost of substituting the following scale of tax rates in place of the existing scale: the first £5,000 of taxable income at 30 per cent., the next £5,000 at 35 per cent., and subsequent bands of £5,000 at 40 and 45 per cent., the balance to be taxed at 50 per cent.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonAbout £2,500 million at 1977–78 income levels.
§ Mr. MacGregorasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the revenue cost of substituting the following scale of tax rates in place of the existing scales: the first £5,000 of taxable income at 25 per cent., the next £5,000 at 30 per cent., and subsequent bands of £5,000 at 35, 40 and 45 per cent., the balance to be taxed at 50 per cent.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonAbout £4,900 million at 1977–78 income levels.
§ Mr. MacGregorasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the revenue cost of substituting the following scale of tax rates in place of the existing scales: the first £5,000 of taxable income at 25 per cent., the next £5,000 at 30 per cent., and subsequent bands of £5,000 at 35, 40, 45, 50 and 55 per cent., the balance to be taxed at 60 per cent.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonAbout £4,900 million at 1977–78 income levels.
§ Mr. MacGregorasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the revenue cost of substituting the following scale of tax rates in place of the existing scales: the first £10,000 of taxable income at 34 per cent., the next £5,000 at 40 per cent., the next £5,000 at 45 per cent. and the balance at 50 per cent.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonAbout £770 million at 1977–78 income levels.
§ Mr. MacGregorasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the 522W revenue cost of reduced rate tax bands, charged at the rate of 25 per cent., covering (a) the first £1,000 of taxable income, (b) the first £2,000 of taxable income, (c) the first £3,000 of taxable income, (d) the first £4,000 of taxable income and (e) the first £5,000 of taxable income, and the revenue cost of cutting the present rate from 34 per cent. to 25 per cent. on the full £6,000.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonThe costs at 1977–78 income levels would be of the following order of magnitude:
£ million (a) … … … 1,600 (b) … … … 2,800 (c) … … … 3,500 (d) … … … 3,800 (e) … … … 3,950 The revenue cost of reducing the basic rate from 34 per cent. to 25 per cent. would be about £4,100 million.
The costs are on the basis of a lower rate of tax on the prescribed amounts of income within the basic rate band of £6,000 available to each "tax unit", counting husband and wife as one. If the lower rate bands were separately available to both husband and wife where the wife was earning and the upper limit of the basic rate band remained at its present level of £6,000, the width of the lower rate band could not exceed £3,000.
§ Mr. MacGregorasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the revenue cost of substituting the following scale of tax rates in place of the existing scales: the first £10,000 of taxable income at 34 per cent., the next £5,000 at 40 per cent., and subsequent £5,000 bands at 45, 50 and 55 per cent., the balance to be taxed at 60 per cent.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonAbout £720 million at 1977–78 income levels.
§ Mr. MacGregorasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the revenue cost of raising the present single, married, age single and age married allowances (a) 25 per cent. and (b) 50 per cent.
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§ Mr. Robert SheldonThe estimated cost at 1977–78 income levels would be of the following orders of magnitude:
- (a) £2,500 million.
- (b) £4,800 million.
The cost assumes a change in wife's earned income allowance equivalent to the change proposed in the single person's allowance.
§ Mr. MacGregorasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the revenue cost of raising the present single, married, age single and age married allowances, by (a) 25 per cent. and (b) 50 per cent. and combining these allowances with a rate structure of £5,000 of taxable income charged at 25 per cent., £5,000 at each of 30, 35, 40 and 45 per cent., and the balance to be taxed at 50 per cent.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonThe estimated cost at 1977–78 income levels would be of the following order of magnitude:
- (a) £6,700 million.
- (b) £8,400 million.
The costs assume a change in wife's earned income allowance equivalent to the change proposed in the single person's allowance.
§ Mr. MacGregorasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the revenue cost of raising the present single, married, age single and age married allowances, by (a) 25 per cent. and (b) 50 per cent. and combining these allowances with a rate structure of £5,000 of taxable income charged at 30 per cent., £5,000 at each of 35, 40, 45, 50 and 55 per cent., and the balance to be taxed at 60 per cent.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonThe estimated cost at 1977–78 income levels would be of the following order of magnitude:
- (a) £4,600 million.
- (b) £6,700 million.
The costs assume a change in wife's earned income allowance equivalent to the change proposed in the single person's allowance.
§ Mr. MacGregorasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the revenue cost of substituting the following scale of tax rates in place of the existing scales: the first £5,000 of taxable income at 30 per cent., the next £5,000 at 35 524W per cent., and subsequent bands of £5,000 at 40, 45, 50 and 55 per cent., and the balance to be taxed at 60 per cent.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonAbout £2,450 million at 1977–78 income levels.
§ Mrs. Wiseasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the aggregate annual gain or loss to the Exchequer if the adjustments in the structure of income tax were adopted as set out by the hon. Member for Coventry, South-West in her Question, Official Report, 24th January, columns 535–6.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonI shall let my hon. Friend have a reply as soon as as possible.
§ Mr. Litterickasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his Department's estimate of the gross unearned income which would be required to produce a net income of £440,000 in one year for a married couple with two dependent child-rent and no other taxable income.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonI shall let my hon. Friend have a reply as soon as possible.
§ Mr. Lawsonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will provide a table showing the number of people liable to income tax now, and in each of the 10 previous years.
§ Mr. Robert Sheldon, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 1st March 1978; Vol. 945, c. 266], gave the following information:
The figures are as follows:
No. of tax units ('000) 1966–67 … … 19,690 1967–68 … … 20,010 1968–69 … … 20,720 1969–70 … … 20,570 1970–71 … … 20,040 1971–72 … … 19,680 1972–73 … … 18,930 1973–74 … … 19,810 1974–75 … … 20,530 1975–76 … … 20,920 1976–77 … … 21,170 (provisional) 1977–78 … … 20,410 (provisional) Married couples are counted as one.