§ Mr. Gordon BrownTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will update his reply of 1 May 1986,Official Report, column to show what extra revenue would result from allowing all tax allowances, both personal and non-structural, at the standard rate of tax only.
§ Mr. Norman Lamont[holding answer 26 January 1988]: The direct revenue cost at 1987–88 levels of income
94W
§ Mr. Norman Lamont[holding answer 26 January 1988]: The latest available estimates are given in the tables. They are based on projections from the 1984–85 survey of personal incomes and are therefore provisional.
of allowing personal tax allowances at rates in excess of the basic rate of income tax is estimated to be about £810 million. Information on the similar cost of other income tax reliefs is available only in respect of mortgage interest, retirement annuity premiums, employees' superannuation contributions, the business expansion scheme, and donations to charities; in total it is about £750 million. It is not possible to estimate precisely the combined yield from restricting these reliefs and personal allowances to the basis rate, but it is thought to be about £1,750 million. 95W These estimates make no allowance for any possible behavioural effects if allowances and reliefs were to be restricted to the basic rate.