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Treasury

Answer

Mr. Leigh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will commission a report from the Inland Revenue on arrangements for allowing a husband and wife to elect (a) to transfer between them the personal tax allowances to which each is entitled and (b) to set the tax allowances and the amounts chargeable at the lower and basic rates of income tax to which both are entitled against the sum of their total incomes; and if he will ask the Inland Revenue to assess (i) the advantages and disadvantages of these arrangements, (ii) their cost to the Exchequer, (iii) a timetable for their introduction and (iv) the tax treatment of married couples in other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries. [20377] Mr. Jack: The tax system already provides a special allowance for married couples, and the Government believe that, by rewarding hard work through reducing tax rates, married couples with continue to benefit under their policies. Nearly two thirds of the income tax package in the 1996 Budget will benefit married couples directly. Against that background, I have asked the Inland Revenue to produce a report about the arrangements that my hon. Friend mentions.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

20377; 292 c360W

Session

1996-97

Subjects

Income tax Married people Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Tax allowances Taxation