§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish in theOfficial Report a table showing (i) the gain to the Exchequer in the current financial year at present rates of tax of abolishing the age allowances and (ii) the cost of retaining them without the income limit.
Mr. Norman I.amontThe yield in a full year at 1988–89 levels of income of abolishing the age allowances for taxpayers aged 65 and over is estimated to be about £400 million. If the age allowances were retained and the income limit abolished, the cost to the Exchequer would be £190 million.
The estimates are based on a projection of the 1985–86 survey of personal incomes and are therefore provisional.