The current system of redistribution through taxation and welfare is inefficient and could be reformed to give more support to those on low and middle incomes whilst reducing economic costs according to a new report for the Resolution Foundation Commission on Living Standards.

The report, written by Paul Johnson, Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, draws on the Mirrlees Review of efficient taxation to identify key reforms that could help to ease the squeeze on living standards by making the UK tax and benefit systems both more efficient and fair.