§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many workers(a) in total, (b) who are single, (c) who are married and (d) with children do not claim the full value of their tax allowances due to low earnings; and if he will estimate the value of the unclaimed allowances. [9936]
§ Mr. JackThe table shows the number of individuals in 1995–96 with some earnings from employment or self-employment, including individuals under 18 and pensioners, who have no income tax liability. Some of the people in the table have gross earnings in excess of the basic tax allowance but have no tax liability due to tax reliefs and deductions which can be set against taxable income. About 1.8 million of the 2.9 million non-taxpaying married individuals have taxpaying spouses.
Individual's marital status Number millions Single with no children 0.8 Single with children 0.3 Married with no children 1.3 Married with children 1.6 Total 4.0 The estimates are based on information projected from the 1993 family expenditure survey and are therefore provisional.
It is not possible to provide a meaningful total of unused allowances without a specification of the method to be used for combining allowances available at the marginal tax rate and those available at 15 per cent.