IFS proposals: roadmap or hard shoulder?

Tucked away within this year’s Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) Green Budget is an interesting chapter entitled Tax reform and growth. It reminds us of the scale of the tax system – it takes £4 of every £10 of income in the economy – and considers the longer term reforms that should be made to the UK’s tax system.

Supported by the recent Mirrlees Review the chapter highlights the importance of tax design for economic welfare and growth. What should be taxed and how? These questions can impinge materially on economic output and at a time when policymakers in HM Treasury are thinking hard about how...