Mr. Field askedthe Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the cost in each case of taking out of tax the poorest (a) 100,000, (b) 250,000, (c) 500,000, (d) 750,000, (e) 1,000,000 and (f) 1,250,000 taxpayers; and to what level the standard rate of tax would need to be raised to cover the revenue lost in each of these six cases.
§ Mr. Ridley[pursuant to his reply, 21 May 1982, c. 211]: The estimates for a full year at 1982–83 income levels are as follows:
(1) Number of tax units taken out of tax (2) Cost of raising allowances to level required to take units in (1) out of tax £ million (3) Increase in basic rate required to recover revenue cost in (2) (a) 100,000 320 ⅓p (b) 250,000 750 ¾p (c) 500,000 1,390 1½p (d) 750,000 2,050 2p (e) 1,000,000 2,700 3p (f) 1,250,000 3,380 4p The estimates are in terms of tax units, that is counting a married couple as one and combining their income.