Written question asked by Stephen Byers (Labour) on Thursday, 26 February 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 3 March 2009. It was answered by Stephen Timms (Labour) on Tuesday, 3 March 2009 on behalf of the Treasury.

Income Tax: Tax Allowances

Question: (2) by how much the personal allowance would need to be raised to take those working for 35 hours a week on the national minimum wage out of income tax liability; and what the cost of doing so would be in 2009-10.

Answer: The current hourly rate of national minimum wage can be found on the HM Revenue and customs website at:"http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/nmw/"The annual amount received by someone on the national minimum wage will depend on the weekly hours worked, and estimates of the cost of raising the income tax personal allowance to different levels can be approximated from table 1.6 'Direct effects of illustrative tax changes' on the HM Revenue and Customs website at:"http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/tax_expenditures/table 1-6.pdf"The figures exclude any estimate of behavioural response.

Secondary information