This meant that borrowers could no longer claim tax relief on, for example, the interest on bank loans or overdrafts.
[3] MIRAS built on the Option Mortgage Scheme of the 1970s, which had also offered reduced repayments as an alternative to reclaiming the tax relief.
[5] In the 1983 Budget Geoffrey Howe increased the size of loans eligible for tax relief on interest from £25,000 to £30,000.
Lawson later publicly expressed regret at not having implemented the change with effect from the time of the budget, as it is generally accepted that the rush to beat the deadline fuelled a sharp increase in house prices.
MIRAS was completely abolished in April 2000 by Gordon Brown, who argued it had become a middle class perk.