§ Mr. Nichollsasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of total tax revenues was paid by the top 5 per cent. of taxpayers in the years since 1973–74.
§ Mr. Norman LamontI assume that my hon. Friend is referring to income tax paid by individuals. Information is given in the table. The analysis is of single people and married couples and the quantiles are determined by reference to income tax liability. The figures are based on the surveys of personal income for years up to 1984–85. For subsequent years, they are based on projections from the 1984–85 survey and are therefore provisional.
Quantile shares of Income Tax Per cent. Year Quantile group of tax units1 Top 5 per cent. 1973–74 28.6 1974–75 26.9 1975–76 24.7 1976–77 24.6 1977–78 24.9 1978–79 24.0 1979–80 23.4 1980–81 24.4 1981–82 24.8 1982–83 25.4 1983–84 25.4 1984–85 provisional 26.0 1985–86 provisional 26.5 1986–87 provisional 27.0 1 ie counting married couples as one and combining their incomes.