§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of the income of a married man with two children, on average earnings, is taken by income tax; and what are the equivalent figures for the other European Economic Community countries, the United States of America and Japan, respectively.
§ Mr. MooreFigures for average earnings in the countries concerned are not available. The only information available relates to average production workers' earnings (see Note 1). Using those figures, the information requested is given in the following table:
528W
Percentage of APW earnings taken by income taxes Column 1 Column 2* United Kingdom 20 12 Belgium 13(14) 1(2) Denmark 15(37) 12(34) France 1 0
Column 1 Column 2* Germany 11 7 Greece 2 0 Ireland 17 14 Italy 12 9 Luxembourg 2 0 Netherlands 11 4 United States of America 8 (9) 8 (9) Japan 4 (7) 4 (7) * Taking account of child benefits where payable. Notes:
1. The figures relate to the estimated gross earnings of average production workers in manufacturing industries in each country in 1983. These are derived from updating the published OECD figures for 1982. Although the figures relate to broadly similar groups of people, the average production worker may be at very different points in the national income distributions in the different countries.
2. All tax figures used relate to the year 1983 or 1983–84.
3. In computing tax liabilities account has been taken of personal allowances and reliefs, minimum deductions for expenses, allowances (if any) for social security contributions, and any other standard reliefs.
4. The figures in brackets include local income taxes, at typical rates.
5. Different countries assist families with children in different ways—some rely entirely on cash payments, while others give tax allowances, and some give both. Column 1 shows the effective rate of tax taking into account tax allowances granted. Column 2 shows the effective rate taking in addition cash benefits into account (by deducting them from tax payable). There are no child benefits in the United States of America, and none for a two child family in Japan.