§ Mr. ClayTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a table showing(a) the total cost of mortgage interest tax relief in 1988–89, (b) the average value of relief per mortgagor, (c) the numbers receiving mortgage relief broken down into the following income ranges: under £4,000, £4,000 to £5,000, £5,000 to £6,000, £6,000 to £7,000, £7,000 to £8,000, £ £8,000 to £9,000, £9,000 to £10,000, £10,000 to £12,000, £12,000 to £15,000, £15,000 to £20,000, £20,000 to £25,000, £25,000 to £30,000, over £30,000.
§ Mr. Norman Lamont[holding answer 30 March 1988]: Provisional estimates based on the proposed rates of ax for 1988–89 are given in the table. They are derived from projections of data from the 1985–86 survey of personal incomes and the 1985 family expenditure survey. The estimates include mortgages formerly under the option mortgage scheme, which are now subsumed within MIRAS.
Income tax thresholds, tax free income and break-even points Tax Year Threshold at current prices Threshold at 1949–50 prices Threshold as percentage of average manual earnings1 Tax free income2 at current prices Tax free income at 1949–50 prices Tax free income as percentage of average manual earnings1 Break-even point3 at current prices Break-even point3 at 1949–50 prices Break-even point3 as percentage of average manual earning1 £ £ per cent. £ £ per cent £ £ per cent. Single person 1978–79 985 171 22.0 985 171 22.0 n.a. n.a. n.a. 1988–894 2,605 216 24.2 2,605 216 24.2 n.a. n.a. n.a. Married man—no children 1978–79 1,535 266 34.3 1,535 266 34.4 n.a. n.a. n.a. 1988–894 4,095 399 38.0 4,095 339 38.0 n.a. n.a. n.a. Married man—with two children5 1978–79 1,735 300 38.8 2,002 346 44.7 2,727 472 61.0 1988–894 4,095 339 38.0 4,849 402 45.0 7,111 589 65.9 Married man—with four children6 1978–79 2,035 352 45.5 2,570 445 57.5 3,836 664 85.8 1988–894 4,095 339 38.0 5,603 464 52.0 10,127 839 93.9 1 Average manual earnings are for full-time males aged over 21 working a full week. 2 Tax-free income is defined as the tax threshold plus child benefit. 3 Break-even point is the level of income at which income tax liability is equal to the money received through child benefit. It therefore gives the level of income above which the family pays more income tax than it obtains in benefits for children. 4 On the basis of the 1988 Budget proposals. Estimates of thresholds and break-even points as a percentage of earnings are provisional. 5 Both children aged under 11. 6 Two children aged under 11, one aged between 11 and 15 and one aged 16 or over.