§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what is his estimate of the number of married women claiming married woman's allowance;
(2) if he will estimate the cost in 1983–84 of abolishing the married woman's allowance.
§ Mr. WakehamAll married women with earned income benefit from the wife's earned income allowance; but many with small amounts, below the PAYE reporting limit, are not known to the Inland Revenue. Excluding these, there are about 6.5 million earning wives on record, 4.2 million of whom pay tax. In a full year at 1983–84 income levels, assuming statutorily indexed levels of allowances, the yield from abolishing the wife's earned income allowance would be around £2.9 billion. This estimate does not include tax that would become due if the allowance were withdrawn from those women not on Inland Revenue records. It is based on the assumption that the election for separate taxation of wife's earnings would no longer be available, as otherwise nearly all two earner couples would be able to benefit from the election, and the yield would be substantially reduced.