§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been(a) the total investment income of individuals and (b) the tax revenues on investment income in each financial year since 1990–91, together with an estimate for the current year; and what is his estimate of the cost to the Exchequer in each year of the exemption from tax of the investment income of old people.
§ Mr. DorrellAvailable information is given in the table. Estimates of income are based on information reported to tax offices and collected through the annual survey of personal incomes. It is therefore not possible to provide estimates for all individuals and so the table relates to taxpayers only. Figures for 1992–93 and 1993–94 are 11W based on projections of the 1991–92 survey and are therefore provisional. For 1990–91, the figures are calculated using the taxpayers' marginal rate and are therefore not directly comparable with receipts data which reflect the application of the composite rate on bank and building society interest. There is no general exemption from tax of the investment income of old people but the third row of the table shows the estimated cost to the Exchequer in terms of liabilities if investment income paid to people aged 65 or over were exempt from income tax.
£ billion 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 Total investment income of taxpayers 41.9 38.7 35.0 29.0 Tax liability on investment income 11.0 10.7 9.6 7.9 Cost of exempting the investment income of the aged 3.6 3.2 2.8 2.3