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Mr. Greville Janner
asked the Chanceller of the Exchequer what the cost would be to the Exchequer in a full fiscal year if the flat rate retirement pensions under the national insurance scheme were to become tax-free payments.
Mr. Robert Sheldon
, pursuant to his reply [Official Report 14 February 1979; Vol. 962, c. 570], gave the following information:
The full year cost based on the latest available data would be about £590 million, at 1978–79 income levels. Retirement pension is here assumed to include the widow's pension paid to widows aged 60 to 65 but to exclude any addition to the basic pension.