HC Deb 25 May 1978 vol 950 cc740-1W
Mr. Maurice Macmillan

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish in the near future a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the effects upon small businesses, and the distribution of wealth in Great Britain of the capital transfer tax.

Mr. Denzil Davies

The effect of taxation, including capital transfer tax, on small businesses is the subject of continued examination by my right hon. Friends the Chief Secretary and the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and the current Finance Bill includes substantial new and improved reliefs to help small businesses. Changes in the distribution of wealth, which will reflect the effect of capital transfer tax and other factors, are shown by the estimates of the distribution of personal wealth in the statistics published annually by the Inland Revenue. Fuller analyses of the distribution of wealth are published in the periodical reports of the Royal Commission on the Distribution of Income and Wealth.