Vol. 388 No. 3
asked the Minister for Finance the number of successful applications for tax relief under Section 23 of the Finance Act, 1981, which were granted between 1981 and its abolition in 1984; and the total cost to the Exchequer in terms of tax forgone.
76.
asked the Minister for Finance the number of applications received for tax relief under Section 27 of the Finance Act, 1988 and the projected cost of these in terms of tax foregone in the first full year.
It is proposed to take Questions Nos. 75 and 76 together.
The relevant statistics available are in respect of the tax relief under both sections 23 and 24 of the Finance Act, 1981 which provided for the set-off of the cost of providing certain rented residential accommodation against rental income. The scope of this relief was restricted by sections 29 and 30 of the Finance Act, 1983 in relation to construction expenditure incurred between 31 March 1984 and 31 March 1987. Section 27 of the Finance Act, 1988 reintroduced the relief granted under sections 23 and 24. Following is the information requested in so far as it is available.
|
Year |
Number of claims allowed in year |
Estimated cost to the Exchequer |
|
£ million |
||
|
1981-82 |
— |
— |
|
1982-83 |
103 |
0.3 |
|
1983-84 |
306 |
1.0 |
|
1984-85 |
460 |
1.7 |
|
1985-86 |
465 |
1.9 |
|
1986-87 |
598 |
3.0 |
|
1987-88 |
571 |
2.9 |
Claims for tax relief under the sections as extended by section 27 arise for the first time in respect of 1988-89 and statistics are not yet available for that year. However, it is tentatively estimated that the cost to the Exchequer of the reintroduction of these reliefs in terms of tax foregone may eventually reach £9 million in a full year.
Note: The figure shown in the table for cost to the Exchequer in each year is confined to the cost of the tax relief which was actually given in the year. In most cases the full tax relief in respect of total qualifying expenditure is absorbed by way of instalments spread over a number of years. As regards the number of claims, the total number of claims shown for each year in the second column of the table includes some claims already recorded for the preceding year or years. For example, the figure of 598 for the year 1986-87 includes some claims already recorded for each of the years 1982-83 to 1985-86.
77.
asked the Minister for Finance in respect of each year 1981 to 1988 (a) the number of successful applicants for mortgage relief (b) the number of applications from first time house buyers (c) the total cost to the Exchequer in terms of tax forgone from all mortgage relief and (d) the total cost to the Exchequer in terms of mortgage relief for first-time house buyers.
Whether or not a claimant is a first-time house buyer is not material to a claim for mortgage interest relief. Because of this, statistics are not recorded in such a manner as would enable the precise information requested by the Deputy to be provided. The following table sets out the information requested in so far as it is available:
|
Tax year |
Number of claimants |
Estimated cost to the Exchequer |
|
£ million |
||
|
1981-82 |
unavailable |
37.0 |
|
1982-83 |
,, |
55.0 |
|
1983-84 |
,, |
80.0 |
|
1984-85 |
,, |
117.0 |
|
1985-86 |
282,000 |
146.2 |
|
1986-87* |
287,000 |
150.6 |
|
1987-88* |
294,000 |
151.6 |
|
1988-89* |
300,000 |
155.0 |
*These figures are provisional.
The numbers of taxpayers who qualified for relief solely in respect of mortgage interest for years prior to 1985-86 is not distinguished from the numbers of taxpayers who qualified for relief in respect of other interest in those years.
