§ Mr. Hordernasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the cost of allowing the first £200 of investment income to be free of tax on investment incomes not exceeding £500.
§ Mr. RidleySuch a proposal would entail a reduction in the composite rate of tax paid by building societies on behalf of their investors, and I regret that there is insufficient information on the distribution of taxpayer's receipts of building society interest, taken together with other investment income, to enable an estimate to be made. The only basis on which an estimate could be made would be one which excluded building society interest 283W altogether⁁i.e., exempting the first £200 of investment income for those investors with investment income of less than £500, where "investment income" was taken to exclude any building society interest. I assume that this would be inadequate for my hon. Friend's purposes; and indeed I regret that such an estimate could be provided only at substantial cost.