§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing for each of the past 10 years the amount of tax which has been lost as a result of life assurance relief, directly and indirectly, in terms of current and in 341W terms of 1982 prices; and if he will include for the first and last years a table showing the breakdown of the total relief into income bands expressed as a percentage.
§ Mr. RidleyThe available information is as follows:
Estimated income tax foregone as a result of relief for qualifying life assurance premiums £ million At current prices At 1982 prices* 1973–74 125 415 1974–75 157 442 1975–76 191 432 1976–77 223 438 1977–78 234 403 1978–79 241 383 1979–80 434 596 1980–81 534 630 1981–82 521 551 †1982–83 575 570 * Calculated by reference to movements in the general index of retail prices. † Provisional. Prior to 1979–80 the figures given are estimates of the tax foregone under the old system of relief of life assurance premiums. From 1979–80, following the introduction of the premium relief by deduction scheme, the figures are of repayments made by the Inland Revenue to life assurance companies, less the public expenditure element paid to Inland Revenue on account of non-allowable premiums.
For 1973–74 the percentage of relief within each income range was as follows. The information is not available for 1982–83. I refer the hon. Member to my reply to him of 7 April 1982. [Vol. 21, c. 375–76.]
1973–74 Range of total net income (lower limit) Percentage of relief in income band Under 1,000 2 1,000 7 1,500 12 2,000 16 2,500 15 3,000 18 4,000 9 5,000 5 6,000 5 8,000 3 10,000 2 12,000 2 15,000 2 20,000 2 100