asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the net cost of replacing the present tax allowance system with a system which granted an allowance of £1,200 per annum to each head of household, reduced all other personal allowances including a married woman's earned income relief to £300 per annum and left unchanged children's tax allowances.

It is possible to provide only an approximate estimate, since information about the taxable income of households is incomplete. Assuming that the proportion of single persons without dependants who are heads of households is the same among taxpayers as in the whole population and that all single persons with dependants are given the £1,200 allowance, it is estimated that the proposal would yield between £150 million and £200 million on 1975–76 income levels.