§ Mr. JackTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what is his estimate of the cost of raising the tax allowance to £3,498, £3,848, £4,233, £4,656, £5,122, £5,634, respectively, for single pensioners aged 65 to 79 years;
(2) what is his estimate of the cost of raising the tax allowance to £3,641, £4,005, £4,406, £4,846, £5,331, and £5,864, respectively, for single pensioners aged 80 years and over;
706W(3) what is his estimate of the cost of raising the tax allowance to £5,538, £6,093, £6,702, £7,372, £8,109 and £8,920, respectively, for married pensioners aged between 65 and 79 years;
(4) what is his estimate of the cost of raising the tax allowance to £5,726, £6,298, £6,927, £7,621, £8,383 and £9,221, respectively, for pensioners over the age of 80 years.
§ Mr. Norman Lamont[holding answers 23 May 1988]: The estimated costs of increasing the age allowances from the levels proposed in the 1988 Budget are shown in the tables. All estimates are based on a projection of the 1985–86 survey of personal incomes and are therefore provisional.
Personal allowance 1988–89 Full year cost Personal allowance 1988–89 Full year cost £ £ million £ £ million Single aged 65–79 Single aged 80 years and over 13,180 — 13,310 — 3,498 60 3,641 15 3,848 115 4,005 35 4,233 170 4,406 50 4,656 225 4,846 65 5,122 285 5,331 80 5,634 325 5,864 95
Personal allowance 1988–89 Full year cost Personal allowance 1988–89 Full year cost £ £ million £ £ million Married aged 65–79 Married aged 80 years and over 15,035 — 15,205 — 5,538 85 5,726 5 6,093 165 6,298 15 6,702 245 6,927 20 7,372 325 7,621 25 8,109 400 8,383 35 8,920 480 9,221 40 1Proposed level of allowance in 1988–89.