§ Mr. Gerald Bowdenasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest estimate of the United Kingdom's net contribution to the Community budget in 1985.
§ Mr. BrookeA final figure is not yet available, but the latest estimate of the United Kingdom's net contribution to the Community budget in calendar 1985 is £1,870 million.
This estimate compares with that of £1,212 million in the statement on the 1985 Community budget (Cmnd. 9633). The reasons for the abnormally high level of our net contribution during 1985 were set out in that White Paper. The latest estimate is larger than that in Cmnd. 9633 for two main reasons. First, most (£439 million) of the 1,000 mecu (£605 million) abatement payable in respect of our excessive net contribution to the 1984 Community budget was received in the first few days of 1986 rather than in 1985 as assumed in Cmnd. 9633.
Thousands 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85* 1985–86† Number of Taxpayers 24,600 24,300 24,050 24,000 Number of taxpayers* if allowances had remained at the level of the previous year 25,800 25,600 25,050 24,850 Difference 1,200 1,300 1,000 850 * Including taxpaying wives. † Provisional.