§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the estimated savings to the Exchequer if the first class travel fare and £13.50 to £16.50 tax free allowances for Members
146Wif he will list in the Official Report for each year since 1974 the monthly average industrial wage for all workers, the average joint family income and the retail price index in Hong Kong for those years taking 1974 as base 100.
§ Mr. Luard,pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 20 March 1979; Vol. 964, c. 539], gave the following information:
of the House of Lords were abolished and what would be the revenue secured to the Treasury if these payments were made liable to tax.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonThe estimated saving from abolishing these allowances would be £0.8 million. As Members of the House of Lords do not form a separately identifiable group for the purposes of calculating an average marginal rate of tax, the information on which to base an estimate of the revenue from taxing the allowances could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. These allowances are not taxable because they are no more than reasonable reimbursement of expenses incurred in connection with parliamentary duties by the holders of an unpaid office.