§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer by how much income tax thresholds could be raised (a) at no overall extra cost to the Exchequer, (b) at an extra cost of £1,500 million, and (c) at an extra cost of £3,000 million assuming the following changes:
318W
Percentage changes in exchange rates* against the United States dollar since 1 January 1979†
1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 up to 1 January 1985 EEC Countries Belgium/Luxembourg (Franc) + 2.9 - 8.4 -25.1 -38.6 -48.1 -54.5 Denmark (Krone) - 5.6 -15.7 -30.5 -39.6 -48.7 -55.0 France (Franc) + 3.8 - 7.9 -27.1 -38.3 -50.0 -56.7 West Germany (Mark) + 5.5 - 7.1 -18.9 -23.5 -33.2 -42.3 Greece (Drachma) - 3.2 -21.7 -37.2 -48.4 -63.9 -71.9 Ireland (Punt) + 6.1 - 5.6 -21.7 -30.6 -43.4 -50.8 Italy (Lira) + 2.5 -11.6 -31.2 -39.7 -49.9 -57.3 Netherlands (Guilder) + 3.7 - 7.5 -19.9 -25.0 -35.5 -44.6 United Kingdom (Pound) + 9.0 +17.2 - 6.4 -20.7 -28.9 -43.3
§ Mr. Ian StewartAs far as such figures are available, they are shown in the table. The figures for United Kingdom banks show the stock of sterling deposits from all sources held on 14 December 1983 and 12 December 1984. Figures for Northern Ireland clearing banks are included with other banks in the table; no separate figures are available. The figures for building societies show the stock of shares and deposits, time deposits and certificates of deposit from all sources at the end of each calendar year.
(i) abolition of all existing personal income tax allowances in favour of a flat rate fixed amount tax deduction for every taxpayer, which would be fully transferable between husband and wife, (ii) tax reliefs for mortgage interest, private pensions, and so on, to be similarly limited to the standard rate of income tax and (iii) wife's investment income to be treated as her own for income tax purposes.