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Written question asked by Jonathan Lord (Conservative) on Friday, 13 April 2012, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 17 April 2012. It was answered by David Gauke (Conservative) on Monday, 23 April 2012 on behalf of the Treasury.

Income Tax

Question
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of people resident in (a) Woking constituency and (b) Surrey who will no longer pay income tax as a result of his proposed increase in the personal allowance (i) from April 2012 and (ii) to £10,000 by April 2015.
Answer

The 2011 Budget announced a £630 cash increase in the personal allowance for under 65s to £8,105 in 2012-13 (£240 above expected RPI indexation), with an equivalent reduction in the basic rate limit to leave the higher rate threshold unchanged.As a result of these measures, the Government estimated that in 2012-13 260,000 of the lowest income taxpayers will be removed from tax altogether. Information at Government office region is provided in the following table.

Government Office Region Number taken out of income tax (thousand)
North East 10
North West and Merseyside 28
Yorkshire and the Number 26
East Midlands 18
West Midlands 25
East of England 25
London 30
South East 32
South West 24
Wales 10
Scotland 21
Northern Ireland 9
Address abroad/unknown 3
All 260

These estimates are based on the 2007-08 Survey of Personal Incomes, projected to 2012-13 using economic assumptions consistent with the Office for Budget Responsibility's March 2011 economic and fiscal outlook.The 2012 Budget announced a £1,100 cash increase in the personal allowance for under 65s to £9,205 in 2013-14 (£850 above indexation).As a result of this measure the Government estimates that in 2013-14 844,000 of the lowest income taxpayers will be removed from tax altogether. Information at Government office region is provided in the following table.

Government Office Region Number taken out of income tax (thousand)
North East 34
North West and Merseyside 95
Yorkshire and the Number 74
East Midlands 66
West Midlands 74
East of England 75
London 97
South East 104
South West 73
Wales 42
Scotland 73
Northern Ireland 25
Address abroad/unknown 13
All 844

These estimates are based on the 2009-10 Survey of Personal Incomes, projected to 2013-14 using economic assumptions consistent with the Office for Budget Responsibility's March 2012 economic and fiscal outlook.Reliable estimates are not available at parliamentary constituency level due to greater uncertainties in projections for small geographical areas and small sample sizes.The Government are committed to supporting lower and middle income earners by raising the personal allowance to £10,000, and removing the lowest income individuals out of income tax. Decisions on future changes in the personal allowance will be taken as part of the annual Budget process in the context of the wider public finances.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
103413; 543 c597-8W
Session
2010-12
Subjects
Income tax Surrey
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk