§ Mr. Whiteheadasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many widows have found themselves obliged to pay tax who were previously exempt as a result of his Budget proposals.
§ Mr. Peter Rees[pursuant to his reply, 18 May 1981, c. 5]: It is estimated that some 80,000 more widows aged 65 or over will be liable to pay tax in 1981–82 than were so liable in 1980–81. It is not possible to estimate the number of widows under that age who will pay tax in 1981–82 and who did not do so in 1980–81. It is estimated that in 1981–82 some 500,000 widows aged under 65 will be in receipt of retirement or widow's pensions greater than the single person's allowance, of whom about 250,000 are under 60. Many of these, though it is not known precisely how many, would already have been liable to pay tax in 1980–81 because of other sources of income and many others will not, in practice, have to pay tax in 1981–82 because any tax liability will be covered by the Inland Revenue's assessing tolerance.