Vol. 404 No. 1
68 Mrs. Fennell asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the fact that under present regulations, a widower with dependent children receives only half the mortgage interest relief for tax purposes that a married couples receive, despite the fact that his costs and overhead expenses are greater from the loss of his wife; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I am afraid the Deputy is misinformed. In fact there is a special mortgage interest relief ceiling for widowed persons of £2,900, compared with £2,000 for a single person and £4,000 for a married couple. Apart from this special allowance for mortgage interest, the difficulties of widowed persons are recognised in the income tax code in that widowed persons have a higher personal allowance than single persons; this stands at £2,550, compared with a single person's allowance of £2,050. In addition, where a widowed person has children, he or she is entitled to the widowed parent allowance of £1,550 which, combined with the widowed personal allowance, brings the widowed parent's total basic allowances to £4,100, the same as a married couple's personal allowance. Finally, I would point out that mortgage protection policies are available which ensure that a couple's mortgage is actually paid off on the death of a spouse.
