§ Mr. Colvinasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will instruct the Inland Revenue to give mortgage interest relief to the person actually paying the mortgage, rather than to the husband, as at present, unless he writes to the Inland Revenue giving his permission for his wife to receive it.
§ Mr. Peter Rees,pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 6 July 1979; Vol. 969, c. 780], gave the following answer:
A wife may already secure relief for any mortgage interest she pays by electing for separate assessment of her income. Relief is similarly available to her if she and her husband jointly elect for her earnings to be separately taxed. We are currently giving careful consideration to the whole question of the tax treatment of married women, and this is one of the aspects which we shall bear in mind.