§ Mr. Nicholas BrownTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will give the number of tax units(a) not liable to income tax, (b) liable to income tax at the basic rate and (c) liable to tax at rates higher than the basic rate in (i) 1978–79, (ii) 1988–89 and 1989–90;
(2) if he will give the number of tax units over pensionable age (a) not liable to income tax, (b) liable to income tax at the basic rate and (c) liable to tax at rates higher than the basic rate in 1978–79, 1988–89 and 1989–90.
§ Mr. Norman Lamont[holding answers 8 May 1989]: Estimates are given in the tables.
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1 Single people and married couples. 2 Single people aged 65 and over and married couples in which one or both members are aged 65 or over.
§ Mr. Nicholas BrownTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish in theOfficial Report the amount and share of pre-tax income accruing to (a) the top one per cent., (b) the top five per cent., (c) the top ten per cent., (d) the top 25 per cent., (e) the bottom 70 per cent., (f) the bottom five per cent. and (g) all taxpayers in each year 1978–79 to 1988–89 and the amount and share of tax liability for each of these groups.
§ Mr. Norman Lamont[holding answer 8 May 1989]: Estimates are given in the tables for 1978–79 and 1983–84 to 1988–89. Information for other years could be provided
Group of taxpayers Top 1 per cent. Top 5 per cent. Top 10 per cent. Top 25 per cent. Bottom 70 per cent. All taxpayers Year Amount £ billion Share per cent. Amount £ billion Share per cent. Amount £ billion Share per cent. Amount £ billion Share per cent. Amount £ billion Share per cent. Amount £ billion Gross incomes before tax 1978–79 5.1 5 15.0 15 24.3 24 45.9 45 51.0 50 102.8 1983–84 9.7 6 28.3 16 45.0 26 81.7 47 82.0 47 173.7 1984–85 10.9 6 31.4 17 49.6 26 89.3 47 88.8 47 188.8 1985–86 12.9 6 35.7 17 55.9 26 100.5 47 100.0 47 212.6 1986–87 15.1 7 40.8 17 63.2 27 112.5 48 107.3 46 232.9 1987–881 16.7 7 45.2 18 70.1 27 124.5 49 116.7 46 255.8 1988–891 19.0 7 51.3 18 79.4 28 140.4 49 129.8 45 286.5 Income tax liabilities 1978–79 2.3 11 4.9 24 7.0 34 11.5 57 7.7 38 20.2 1983–84 3.8 11 8.5 26 12.2 36 19.5 58 12.5 38 33.4 1984–85 4.2 12 9.3 26 13.3 38 21.1 60 12.4 35 35.4 1985–86 5.0 13 10.6 27 14.8 38 23.2 60 13.6 35 38.8 1986–87 6.2 14 12.7 29 17.3 40 26.5 61 14.5 34 43.3 1987–881 6.9 15 14.0 31 18.8 41 28.4 62 14.8 32 45.6 1988–891 6.0 13 13.5 29 18.6 40 28.6 62 15.2 33 46.4 1 Provisional; Includes estimates of occupational pension contributions and Investment Income not reported to tax offices.
§ Mr. Nicholas BrownTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish in theOfficial Report the total amount of tax recovered from tax investigations in each of the individual cases where the recovered amount exceeded £1 million.
§ Mr. Norman Lamont[holding answer 8 May 1989]: The total amount of tax recovered from the 43 investigation cases settled in 1988–89 where in each case the amount recovered exceeded £1 million was £132 million.
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Married man with non-earning wife and two children Multiples of average male earnings Proportion of gross earnings: ½ 1 l½ 2 3 5 10 1978–79 Income tax -4.1 14.4 20.6 23.6 32.0 47.1 64.7 NICs 6.5 6.5 5.6 4.2 2.8 1.7 0.8 VAT — 2.7 2.7 — — — — 1989–90 Income tax -1.0 12.0 16.4 18.4 20.6 22.4 23.7 NICs 7.9 8.4 6.8 5.1 3.4 2.0 1.0 VAT — 5.0 5.7 — — — — 1978–79 Income tax -11.l 6.4 15.2 19.7 25.9 32.9 50.6 NICs 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 5.4 3.4 1.7 VAT — 3.4 3.4 — — — — 1989–90 Income tax -10.6 7.1 13.1 16.0 19.0 21.4 23.2 NICs 5.4 7.5 8.3 8.4 6.8 4.1 2.0 VAT — 5.9 6.0 — — — — only at disproportionate cost. All estimates of income are based on information reported to tax offices and collected through the annual surveys of personal incomes. For years before 1985–86, estimates exclude employees' contributions to occupational pension schemes and some investment income on which tax is deducted at source. Estimates are based on the surveys of personal incomes for years up to 1986–87 and projections of the 1986–87 survey for subsequent years; the latter are, therefore, provisional.
I regret that information on the bottom five per cent. of taxpayers is not available.
§ Mr. Nigel GriffithsTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the proportion of gross income paid in income tax, national insurance contributions and value added tax by(a) a married man with a non-earning wife and two children and (b) a married man with an earning wife and two children at one half one and half, two, three, five and 10 times national average earnings in 1989–90; and what were the comparable figures in 1978–79.
§ Mr. Norman Lamont[holding answer 8 May 1989]: The information requested is in the table.
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(1) Average male earnings in 1989–90 are assumed to be £273–10 per week, 7½ per cent. higher than in 1988–89. This represents a real increase of over 30 per cent. since 1978–79.
(2) Child benefit is treated as a negative income tax.
(3) Earners, including working wives, are assumed to pay Class 1 NI contributions at the contracted in rate. The figures for NI contributions are financial year averages.
(4) The two earner couple is assumed to have joint earnings equal to the various multiples of average earnings, split between husband and wife in the ratio 60:40.
(5) The estimates of VAT are derived from the 1985 Family Expenditure Survey and are based on the illustrative assumption that 10 per cent. of disposable income is saved. Estimates cannot reliably be made outside the range of 75 per cent. to 150 per cent. of average male earnings.
§ Mr. Nigel GriffithsTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish in theOfficial Report a table showing tax and national insurance contributions less child benefit, where appropriate, for 1989–90, and comparable figures for 1988–89 and 1978–79, with the multiples of average earnings as half, two-thirds, one, five and 10 times for (a) a married couple with part-time working spouse, (b) a married couple plus two children with part-time working spouse and (c) a single person.
§ Mr. Norman Lamont[holding answer 8 May 1989]: The information requested for a single person is given in the table. Figures for married couples with part-time working spouse have not been given, as they will depend on how much the part-time worker earns.
Payments of income tax and national insurance contributions by a single person (£ per week) in current prices Multiples of average male earnings1 ½ ¾ 1 5 10 1978–79 10.93 17.04 29.25 242.17 625.97 1988–89 30.67 45.10 73.87 459.94 968.14 21989–90 31.53 47.03 77.96 492.81 1,039.01 1 Full time males on adult rates (all occupations), using illustrative assumption of 7.5 per cent. growth in earnings between 1988–89 and 1989–90. 2 Financial year average of pre- and post-October regimes for employees National Insurance Contributions.