§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish in theOfficial Report up-to-date figures, using 1990–91 prices, but otherwise on the same basis as those provided in his answer to the hon. Member for Hornchurch (Mr. Squire) of 10 January 1989, Official Report, columns 624–47.
§ Mr. MaudeUpdated figures for 1990–91 are given in the table. For earlier years, I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne, East (Mr. Brown) on 5 July 1990 jat column699. The figures given in that reply at 1988–89 prices may be converted to 1990–91 prices in line with the Autumn Statement forecast by multiplying by a factor of 1.19.
559W
Multiples of average earnings 0.50 0.75 1 1.5 2 3 4 5 7 10 20 Other indirect — 9.5 8.4 7.3 — — — — — — — TOTAL 5.7 29.9 33.7 37.6 26.7 28.1 30.1 32.1 34.3 36.0 38.0 Married, two children Amounts, £ per week Income tax 1.27 20.51 39.76 78.25 135.76 258.92 382.08 505.24 751.56 1,121.04 2,352.64 NICS 10.64 17.56 24.49 28.28 28.28 28.28 28.28 28.28 28.28 28.28 28.28 VAT — 10.58 15.45 26.16 — — — — — — — Other indirect — 18.55 21.99 29.54 — — — — — — — TOTAL 11.91 67.20 101.69 162.23 164.04 287.20 410.36 533.52 779.84 1,149.32 2,380.92 Percentage of earnings Income tax 0.8 8.9 12.9 17.0 22.0 28.0 31.0 32.9 34.8 36.4 38.2 NICS 6.9 7.6 8.0 6.1 4.6 3.1 2.3 1.8 1.3 0.9 0.5 VAT — 4.6 5.0 5.7 — — — — — — — Other indirect — 8.0 7.1 6.4 — — — — — — — TOTAL 7.7 29.1 33.0 35.2 26.6 31.1 33.3 34.7 36.1 37.3 38.7 Notes to tables
(1) Income tax payments are calculated on the assumption that the households receive no tax relief other than the standard allowances and only have income from employment. All earners, including wives, are assumed to pay class 1 NI contributions at the contracted rate. The figures for NI contributions are financial year averages.
(2) From 1990–91 husbands and wives will be taxed independently. Previously the tax liability of couples depended on their joint income. To permit comparisons with earlier years the table therefore shows income tax and National Insurance Contributions paid by a married couple in 1990–91 as a proportion of their joint income, assuming, as in the earlier years, that where both partners are earners, the husband and wife share the relevant multiple of earnings in the ratio 60:40.
(3) In order to provide comparability with 1978–79, when support for children was given partly through child tax allowances, child benefit is treated as a negative income tax for the married couple with two children.
(4) Average earnings are taken to be the average gross weekly earnings of all full-time males on adult rates with pay unaffected by absence. These are estimated to be £307.90 per week in 1990–91, using the Government Actuary Department's assumption of 10 per cent. growth over 1989–90 as published in the 1990 autumn statement.
(5) The estimates of indirect taxes are derived from the 1985 family expenditure survey, and are based on the illustrative assumption that 10 per cent. of disposable income is saved. There are wide variations in spending patterns between households with the same composition and similar incomes and estimated payments of VAT and other indirect taxes are therefore approximate, even within the income range for which figures are shown. Outside this range the margin of error is even higher and reliable estimates cannot be made. Because of sampling variation, there can be substantial differences between the estimates obtained from family expenditure surveys for different years.