§ Mr. Cartwrightasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the estimated full year cost of extending the married woman's earned income allowance to working widows.
§ Mr. Peter ReesInformation upon which to base a precise estimate is not available. If, in addition to the allowances to which they are already entitled, widows were given a tax allowance equivalent to the wife's earned income allowance to set against their earnings, the full year cost, after taking account of the Budget proposals, would be of the order of £75 million for widows aged under 65 years. Reliable information for widows over 65 is not available, but the cost is expected to be less.