§ 41. Mr. AshleyTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the tax concessions available for disabled people and their carers; and what is the annual cost to the Revenue.
§ Mr. MajorVarious social security benefits for the disabled are exempt from income tax:
Benefit Cost of Exemption (1989–90) £ million Invalidity benefit and severe disablement allowances 390 Industrial disablement benefits 70 Allowances to rehabilitees 17 Attendance allowance 95 Mobility allowance 55 War disablement benefit 95 1 Negligible. Two tax allowances are available in respect of disability: the blind person's allowance and the additional personal allowance for a husband with dependent children whose wife is totally incapacitated throughout the tax year. Each of these allowances costs up to £5 million a year.
In addition, the following extra-statutory concessions give favourable treatment to payments to the disabled:
- A26 Sick benefits—Estimated cost: up to £100,000.
- A59 Home to work travel of severely disabled employees—No central data on which to base a reliable estimate.
- A62 Pensions to employees disabled at work—Estimated cost: up to £100,000.
Further details are given in the Inland Revenue's booklet IR 1.