§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish in the Official Report his estimate of the number of cases in which tax relief will be given through MIRAS or otherwise on mortgage. interest payments in the next financial year, together with (a) the estimated cost to the Exchequer and (b) the number of recipients of working age and their distribution by personal category gross and by range of gross income together with the average amount of relief given.
§ Mr. Norman Lamont[pursuant to his reply, 23 March 1987, c. 39–40]; Information is in the table. Following the introduction of MIRAS in April 1983, it is no longer possible to estimate the distribution of mortgage interest relief from tax records (except for relief on mortgages outside the scope of MIRAS and relief given at rates in excess of the basic rate). The estimates in the table are based on projections of the family expenditure survey for 1985 and the 1984–85 survey of personal incomes, but the sample sizes do not permit reliable estimates to be made in all the detail requested. Estimates are subject to revision.
Tax units1 receiving mortgage interest relief by range of total income—1987–88 Range of total income £000
2 Numbers receiving mortgage relief '000
3 Average value of relief per mortgagor £
3 Total cost of relief £ million
Under 4 650 370 240 4 to 5 100 380 40 5 to 6 140 410 50 6 to 7 210 420 80 7 to 8 270 450 120 8 to 9 370 470 170 9 to 10 480 480 230 10 to 12 1,150 540 600 12 to 15 1,600 560 890 15 to 20 1,900 580 1,100 20 to 25 730 580 410 25 to 30 330 810 270 Over 30 470 1,170 550 Total 8,400 570 4,750 1 Single persons and married couples. 2 Including about 500,000 non-taxpayers. 3 Assuming interest rates of 12.25 percent, in April 1987 and 11.25 per cent. from May 1987.