asked the Minister for Finance if, having regard to the hardship suffered by elderly widows living alone whose widows' pensions are subjected to income tax because of small pensions paid by their late husbands' employers, he will give sympathetic consideration to the possibility of not making widows' pensions liable for income tax unless the income from other sources exceeds £12 weekly.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Tax on Widow's Pensions.
184.
Presumably the Deputy has in mind the exemption of widows' pensions payable under the Social Welfare Acts. The recipient of a social welfare widow's pension would not become liable to income tax unless her pension was a contributory one and her total income from all sources, including the contributory pension, exceeded the existing effective exemption limit of £365 for a widow. The question of the general level of the income tax personal allowance and reliefs is a matter which will have my attention at the appropriate time; but the Deputy will appreciate that it would not be feasible to discriminate against a widow, who had a pension from her late husband's employer, in favour of a widow who had the same amount of income, but derived from two pensions of which one was contributory.
Question No. 185 postponed.