§ Lord VAIZEYasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will publish in the Official Report the number of persons liable to tax and the number of persons taken out of tax for each financial year since 1945 on the following bases:
- (a) married couples counted as one; and
- (b) married women counted separately.
§ Lord McCLUSKEYThe information readily available is as follows:
680WA
Year Number liable to income tax ('000) Numbers not liable who would have been liable if allowances of preceding year had remained unchanged ('000) (a) (b) (a) (b) 1945–46 … … Nil Nil 1946–47 … … … 2,000 1947–48 … … … … 1948–49 14,300 … … Over 2,500 1949–50 … … Nil Nil 1950–51 … … Nil Nil 1951–52 16,200 … … … 1952–53 15,400 … … Over 2,000 1953–54 15,900 … Negligible Negligible 1954–55 16,600 … Nil Nil 1955–56 16,300 … … 2,400 1956–57 17,100 … Nil Nil 1957–58 17,300 … … … (a) Married couples counted as one. (b) Married women counted separately. … Not available.
Year Number liabile to income tax ('000) Numbers not liable who would have been liable if allowances of preceding year had remained unchanged ('000) (a) (b) (a) (b) 1958–59 17,700 … … … 1959–60 18,400 20,900 Nil Nil 1960–61 19,200 … Negligible Negligible 1961–62 19,900 … Nil Nil 1962–63 20,100 23,200 … … 1963–64 17,800 20,400 … 3,700 1964–65 18,500 21,100 … … 1965–66 19,300 22,000 … 100 1966–67 19,700 22,800 Negligible Negligible 1967–68 20,000 23,300 Negligible Negligible 1968–69 20,700 24,200 —200 —200 1969–70 20,600 23,700 600 1,100 1970–71 20,000 23,100 1,300 2,100 1971–72 19,700 23,400 200 200 1972–73 18,900 21,700 1,800 3,000 1973–74 19,800 23,300 100 100 1974–75 20,500 24,500 500 1,500 1975–76 20,900 25,400 600 800 1976–77 21,300 26,000 500 800 1977–78 20,500 24,700 1,300 2,100 (Provisional) 1978–79 21,200 25,700 200 400 (Estimated) (a) Married couples counted as one. (b) Married women counted separately. … Not available. Figures for numbers of taxpaying earning wives are available directly only since 1959–60 for years in which a survey of personal incomes was held. Estimates of the numbers of persons not liable to tax, but liable on allowances of the previous year are often made at the time of the Budget statement, on the basis of the information available at that time. For the earlier years these estimates have been included in the table where available. It has not been possible without expenditure of undue resources to determine whether these figures would need revision if they were recalculated in the light of the more recent (and more complete) information. In years when allowances and limits were not changed it is, of course, known that no persons were taken out of tax.