 Facts and figures about UK taxes, benefits and public spending.
Analysing government fiscal forecasts and tax and spending.
Case studies that give a flavour of the areas where IFS research has an impact on society.
Reforming the tax system for the 21st century.
A peer-reviewed quarterly journal publishing articles by academics and practitioners.
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Since its foundation in the 1960s, the IFS has been studying developments in the UK's tax and social security system. This continues to be a core part of the Institute's work, making a particularly important contribution to public debate around the government's annual set pieces of the Budget and Pre-Budget Report, and the Institute's own Green Budget. Research at the IFS concentrates on describing and analysing changes and proposed changes to the tax and social security system, and in using large cross-sectional household datasets to model the impact of reforms on individuals' incomes and behaviour. Below, we present specific projects that researchers at the IFS have worked on in recent years, although the constant need to maintain the Institute's tax and benefit model means that IFS researchers are familiar with almost all areas of personal tax and social security in the UK.
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This week, debate over the Government's Welfare Reform Bill has returned to the House of Commons. An element that has grabbed a lot of attention is the proposed benefit cap for working-age households (excluding those claiming Disability Living Allowance or Working Tax Credit), which will be set at £350 per week for childless single people and £500 per week for other households. This is now expected to affect about 67,000 households in Great Britain when implemented in 2013-14, reducing their benefit entitlement by an average of £83 per week and cutting the benefits bill by about £290 million in that year.
As Chancellor George Osborne prepares for his keynote statement on fiscal policy and the economy the IFS Green Budget assesses some of the issues he will have to deal with.
The IFS Green Budget suggests that, even relative to major planned cuts, Whitehall departments will underspend by more than £3 billion this year.
This presentation was given at the launch of the Green Budget 2012.
This presentation was given at the launch of the Green Budget 2012.
Earlier this month the European Commission outlined proposals aimed at making the EU VAT system simpler, more efficient and more robust. If fully realised, complying with VAT procedures, particularly when trading across borders, would be considerably simpler, and the system should be more robust to fraud: hence, the plans represent a genuine improvement. However, significant problems like the plethora of goods and services not subject to the full rate of VAT look set to remain, despite efforts to discourage their use.
These slides were delivered as part of the IFS public economics lectures 2011.
The UN Climate Change Conference begins in Durban, South Africa, on the 28th November. One of its primary aims is to reach agreement on ways to reduce carbon emissions. Good policy is required to achieve reductions efficiently, including a consistent (preferably global) carbon price. However, a consistent price does not currently exist. Within the UK, there are a myriad of policies in place which create substantial divergences in effective carbon prices. We have some way to go to get the basics right for an efficient national policy; the global challenges will be much greater.
In April 2010 the then Labor government introduced a new higher income tax rate of 50 percent on incomes over £150,000.
The analyses summarised here explore the educational outcomes of disengaged young people from a nationally representative cohort who reported taking vocational courses in Year 10 compared to similarly disengaged young people who did not.
Browse publications & research
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 Started: 11 April 2011
Started: 01 November 2010
Started: 28 September 2010
Started: 17 March 2010
Started: 01 November 2009
  In light of Government objectives to increase environmental taxation, we investigate whether the UK tax system is becoming more or less ‘green’.
The IFS has made valuable contributions to the debate on VAT and its impact on the poor.
The IFS played a key role in the debate about who the tax and benefit changes in recent ‘Emergency Budget’ hit hardest.
Changes to the benefit system recommended by IFS researchers have made working less than 16 hours a week more attractive to benefit recipients.
The IFS played a key role in informing the public during the 2010 election campaign. Our comments on the parties’ tax plans were quoted by the party leaders in their debates.
The Mirrlees Review shows the importance IFS attaches to high quality empirical evidence in the design of tax and benefit system.
Our ERA analysis contributed to the evaluation literature and informed the Government about the validity of the experimental findings.
IFS evaluated the Pathways to Work programme. This work proved key to the policy debate about how to get disability benefit claimants in work.
Proposals by IFS researchers to simplify the benefit system and strengthen the incentives for low-skilled adults to work have attracted the attention of Iain Duncan Smith, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.
IFS researchers found that the In-Work Credit encouraged lone parents to leave benefit more quickly but did not increase work retention.
An IFS economist advised a “Citizens Jury” on the welfare system, including basic facts and important issues about its purpose and structure.
IFS researchers develop a model of the Mexican tax system that will be used by the Mexican Government analysts.
IFS researchers and the World Bank plan to develop capacity and tools in developing countries for the comprehensive analysis of tax reforms
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