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Inheritance Tax
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many individuals in each of the last four years have been granted exemption from inheritance tax in relation to chattels declared to be open to inspection by the public. [26108]
Dawn Primarolo: Exemption is not generally granted to individuals, but to executors of a deceased person's estate and/or to the trustees of trusts in which the deceased person was involved. On that basis, exemption was granted to chattels in their own right in 59, 74, 39 and 21 cases in the years 1997–98 to 2000–01 respectively. Exemption was also granted in three, six, two and no cases respectively for chattels which are historically associated with a heritage building. Exemption claims often cover more than one chattel or collection of chattels.
Incomes
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many tax units in 2001–02 will be on (a) twice, (b) five times and (c) 10 times average earnings or more; [26207]
- (2) how many and what proportion of taxpayers earn less than (a) three-quarters and (b) two-thirds of median male earnings in the most recent year for which figures are available. [26266]
Dawn Primarolo: Available estimates for the numbers of individual taxpayers in 2000–01 and proportions in the income ranges specified are given.
| Employee taxpayers in 2000–01 with earnings in the range | Number | Proportion of all employee taxpayers |
|---|---|---|
| Over twice average earnings (million) | 1.04 | — |
| Over five times average earnings (thousand) | 150 | — |
| Over 10 times average earnings (thousand) | 14 | — |
| Less than three-quarters of median male earnings (million) | 10.2 | 48 |
| Less than two-thirds of median male earnings (million) | 11.7 | 55 |
Average earnings and male median earnings are based on the New Earnings Survey first release.
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Estimates are based on the Survey of Personal Incomes and consistent with the November 2001 pre-Budget report.
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the net change in the annual income of a married couple with one earner and two school age children living in rented accommodation for which they pay average council house rent and average rates of a 1 per cent. cut in the basic rate of tax before and after taking account of any change in entitlement to housing benefit and WFTC, assuming that the earner is on (a) half and (b) one and a half times average earnings. [26215]
Dawn Primarolo: A married couple with one earner on half median earnings (£9,800 per annum) and two school age children would benefit by £34 a year from a 1 per cent. cut in the basic rate of income tax before taking account of working families tax credit and by £15 a year after taking account of working families tax credit. On one and a half times median earnings (£29,400 per annum) this family would not be eligible for working families tax credit and would benefit by £230 a year from a 1 per cent. cut in the basic rate of income tax. A single earner family with two school age children and paying average council house rents would not be eligible for housing benefit on either half median earnings or one and a half times median earnings.
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the (a) average and (b) median income is of (i) married couples and (ii) single people, whether liable to income tax or not, in 2001–02; and what percentage of (A) married couples and (B) single people fall below the average for their group. [26285]
Malcolm Wicks: I have been asked to reply.
The information requested is not available.
Works of Art (Access)
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what actions his Department has taken in each of the last four years to make the public aware of their rights of access to homes containing works of art granted exemption from inheritance tax. [26338]
Dawn Primarolo: The Revenue website dedicated to information about tax-exempt works of art remains the primary vehicle for informing the public, as it has been since its launch in 1996. The site was redesigned in 2000 to make it more user-friendly and to give fuller information about public access to heritage assets. The number of hits on the site has increased from less than 1,000 per month at the beginning of 1998 to around 15,000 per month currently.
Owners of tax-exempt heritage assets, particularly historic houses and their contents, increasingly maintain their own websites or have some other presence on the internet: we now offer such owners the facility of a link from the Revenue website.
The Revenue website can be accessed direct at www.cto.eds.co.uk or through the Revenue's main website at www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk.
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Tax Allowances
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will estimate the savings in a full year at 2001–02 rates of restricting all allowances and reliefs to the standard rate of tax broken down by category of allowance and relief; [26209]
- (2) what extra revenue would result from allowing all tax allowances at the standard rate of tax only. [26235]
Dawn Primarolo: The full year yield in 2001–02 from restricting the personal allowances (including the blind person's allowance) to 22 per cent. is estimated at £2.6 billion.
I regret that estimates for the effect of restricting all allowances and reliefs to the standard rate of tax broken down by category of allowance and relief could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Capital Gains Tax
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many (a) basic rate and (b) higher rate taxpayers paid capital gains tax in 2000–01; [26211]
- (2) what the projected increase or reduction in capital gains tax liability is of the (a) top 1 per cent., (b) top 5 per cent., (c) top 10 per cent., (d) bottom 25 per cent. and (e) bottom 10 per cent. in 2001–02; and what the total number was of tax units estimated to be liable. [26258]
Dawn Primarolo: The latest available information on the distribution of the income and gains of capital gains taxpayers is in table 14.3 and projections of taxpayer numbers are in table 1.4 of the online edition of "Inland Revenue Statistics" which can be accessed on the Inland Revenue website www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/stats.
Tax Receipts
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of the total revenue from income tax was paid by the top five per cent. of taxpayers in each of the last four years. [26281]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to "Inland Revenue Statistics" table 2.4, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House. The latest version can be accessed on the Inland Revenue website www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/stats/income_tax/it_t04_1.htm.
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the capital gains tax receipts and the corporation tax receipts were for each of the Inland Revenue districts in (a) Greater London, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland in current and in constant prices for each of the last four years. [26225]
Dawn Primarolo: Total receipts of capital gains tax and of corporation tax in each of the last four years are given on the Inland Revenue website at: http:// www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/stats/tax_t02_1.htm.
Receipts information in the detail requested is not available.
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many people paid inheritance tax in each of the last 10 years; and how much tax was paid in each year; [26340]
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- (2) what the total annual revenue yield was from stamp duty on property purchases in each of the last 10 years; [26336]
(3) what the total payments were of capital gains tax; and how many people made them in each of the last five years. [26262]
Dawn Primarolo: The requested information on receipts of tax and number of taxpayers is available in tables 1.2 and 1.4 of the online edition of Inland Revenue Statistics—http://www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/stats. Further breakdowns of stamp duty yield are given in table 15.1, with earlier years in the equivalent table of the paper publication, Inland Revenue Statistics 1997.
Higher Rate Taxpayers
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many higher rate taxpayers there were in 2000–01; and what their average income was. [26263]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to the "Inland Revenue Statistics" table 2.1, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House. The latest version can be accessed on the Inland Revenue website http:// www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/stats/income_tax/it_t01_1.htm.
The average income of higher rate taxpayers in 2000–01 is around £69,000.
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