§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) whether he will bring up to date the information concerning wife's earned income allowance published in the Official Report on 28 March 1983, Official Report, columns 59–60, in reply to a question from the hon. Member for Grimsby;
(2) whether he will bring up to date the information concerning the wife's earned income allowance published in the Official Report on 25 January 1983, Official Report, column 392 and on 8 March 1983, Official Report, column 340, in reply to the hon. Member for Great Grimsby.
§ Mr. Norman LamontAll married women with earned income benefit from the wife's earned income allowance; but many with small amounts, below the PAYE reporting limit, are not known to the Inland Revenue. Excluding there, thee are about 6.8 million earning wives on record, 4.0 million of whom pay tax. In a full year at 1986–87 income levels, the yield from abolishing the wife's earned income allowance would be around £3.5 billion. This estimate does not include tax that would become due if the allowance were withdrawn from those women not on Inland Revenue records. It is based on the assumption that the election for separate taxation of wife's earnings would no longer be available as otherwise nearly all two earner couples would benefit from the election, and the yield would be substantially reduced. Further information about the distribution of earning wives, by the couple's joint taxable income and by the wife's income, is given in the following tables.
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Wives* with earned income on Inland Revenue records by couple's joint taxable income, 1986–87 Joint taxable income (£) Wives not paying tax ('000s) Wives paying tax ('000s) (Lower limit) Nil or negative 300 0 190 0 1,000 170 0 2,000 180 40 3,000 160 100 4,000 160 120 5,000 200 130 6,000 180 190 7,000 210 240 8,000 180 270 9,000 160 340 10,000 220 630
Joint taxable income (£) Wives not paying tax ('000s) Wives paying tax ('000s) 12,000 180 720 15,000 160 640 20,000 90 420 30,000 60 160 TOTAL 2,800 4,000 * Excluding self-employed wives making a net loss.
Wives* with earned income on Inland Revenue records by wife's income, 1986–87 Wife's income (£) Number of wives ('000s) (Lower limit) 1 1,030 1,000 1,090 2,000 1,140 3,000 820 4,000 620 5,000 500 6,000 460 7,000 340 8,000 230 9,000 180 10,000 220 12,000 110 15,000 30 20,000 20 30,000 10 TOTAL 6,800 * Excluding self-employed wives making a net loss.