§ Mr. Gordon BrownTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give, for the latest year available, the number of tax units who are married couples falling within each £1,000 income band up to an income of £30,000 and thereafter in £10,000 income hands up to £100,000; and if he will specify the number of wives and husbands falling within each band, giving the average incomes of wives and husbands within each band separately and the same figures in aggregate for those tax units on incomes in excess of £100,000.
§ Mr. Norman Lamont[holding answer 13 May 1988]: Provisional estimates for married couples liable to income tax in 1988–89 are given in the table. I regret that a more detailed analysis is not possible, because estimates are based on a projection of the 1985–86 survey of personal incomes. The table shows the average income of husbands where the wife has no income and average incomes of both husband and wife where both spouses have income.
531W
Number of couples Average income Total income (lower limit) all where wife has no income with wife's income1 where wife has no income where both spouses have income husband wife1 £'000 '000s '000s '000s £ £ £ 70 80 20 60 117,000 92,600 22,200 All 11,240 3,190 8,050 14,500 13,700 4,400 1 Earnings, pensions, and investment income.