Ken Clarke 'doubts' on married couple tax break before 2015
Ken Clarke said he did not recall a commitment to a married couples' tax by the end of the Parliament The Conservatives may not implement a change in the tax status of married couples that they previously promised, Cabinet minister Ken Clarke has said.
The married minister without portfolio told the Daily Telegraph he did not expect to see a change to his advantage in the course of this Parliament.
The government says tax is a matter for the chancellor.
In opposition, Tories promised a transferable tax allowance possibly worth £150 a year to married couples.
It would apply where one spouse stayed at home.
The Conservative manifesto stated: "We will recognise marriage and civil partnerships in the tax system in the next Parliament."
Mr Clarke told the Telegraph that tough economic conditions made it unlikely that the policy would be introduced before the end of this Parliament, in 2015.
Despite growth of 1% in the third quarter of 2012 announced earlier this week, which was better than expected, the minister said it was too early to be certain the economy was bouncing back.
Mr Clarke, a former chancellor, said he believed a "long hard road" still lay ahead and indicated that married tax allowances might be a casualty of the tight economic conditions.
"We never committed ourselves to married couples' tax by the end of the parliament," he told the newspaper.
"I'm married, I'm not counting on it. I don't remember anyone promising that kind of thing."
A spokesman for the minister later said: "It was a comment, not a statement of policy. Any tax changes are a matter for the chancellor."
The measure had been opposed by Liberal Democrats, who secured the freedom under the Coalition Agreement to abstain in any parliamentary vote on the issue.
Source : bbc[dot]co[dot]uk
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