asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the reduction in income tax following all changes proposed in the Budget for the following earnings levels, specifying separate figures for a single person, a married couple and a married couple with two children under 11 years of age: (a) £23,000, (b) £16,000, (c) £13,200, (d) £11,200, (e) £9,200 and (f) £7,700.

pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 23rd June 1977; Vol. 933, c. 526], gave the following information:The figures are as follows:

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the increase over his Budget estimate of 845,000 taken out of income tax if personal reliefs were: £1,270 for a married couple, £860 for a single person, £1,760 for a couple over 65 years of age and £1,105 for a single person over 65 years of age.

pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 23rd June 1977; Vol. 933, c. 527], gave the following information:About 385,000, including 200,000 earning wives.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish in tabular form his estimates of the number of people taken out of income tax by Budget changes in each of the past 10 years and the total number of people who paid income tax in each of the same years.

pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 23rd June 1977; Vol. 933, c. 527], gave the following information:

Year			Number taken out of income tax by Budget changes '000	Number liable to income tax '000
1967–68	…	…	10	20,010
1968–69	…	…	—250	20,720
1969–70	…	…	635	20,570
1970–71	…	…	1,300	20,040
1971–72	…	…	200	19,680
1972–73	…	…	1,800	18,930
1973–74	…	…	140	19,810
1974–75	…	…	550	20,530
1975–76	…	…	580*	20,750*
1976–77	…	…	450*	20,950*
* Provisional.

Married couples are counted as one.The numbers taken out of income tax are estimates of the numbers who would have been liable to income tax for that year but for the Budget changes. The figures are non-cumulative.In 1968–69 the number of taxpayers was increased due to the effect of the family allowance deduction.The figures for years up to 1973–74 are the estimates made at the time of each Budget. Those for 1974–75 onwards are revised estimates taking account of later income surveys and revised estimates of the distribution of personal incomes.