 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.
Find out where you are in the income distribution.
Resources for schools and students.
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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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The inflation figures for September 2011 released this week by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) are important, because they affect how the tax and benefit system will look in 2012-13.
Today the Office for National Statistics published the annual rates of inflation to September. These numbers are particularly important: September inflation figures are used to determine increases in personal tax and benefit parameters and public sector pensions at the beginning of the next financial year.
Paul Johnson discusses the 50 percent tax rate on incomes over £150,000 and questions the effectiveness of a top tax increase.
This paper compares and contrasts the UK's Mirrlees Review with major tax reviews that have taken place at about the same time in Australia (the Henry Review) and New Zealand (the Tax Working Group Review).
James Mirrlees, Stuart Adam, Tim Besley, Richard Blundell, Steve Bond, Robert Chote, Malcolm Gammie, Paul Johnson, Gareth Myles and James Poterba
This paper provides a summary of the conclusions and recommendations of the Mirrlees Review of the UK tax system.
Roger Gordon
The objective of this commentary is to explore the relationship between the reforms proposed in Tax by Design and the recent academic literature.
Louis Kaplow
A notable feature and principal virtue of Tax by Design is its system-wide perspective on different elements of the tax system. This review essay builds on this trait and offers a more explicit foundation for the report's general approach, drawing on a distribution-neutral methodology that is developed in other work.
Christian Keuschnigg
This commentary reflects on the recommendations of the Mirrlees Review on tax reform, with a special focus on capital income taxation.
This report analyses the impact that ERA has had on a variety of outcomes experienced by working members of the New Deal for Lone Parents and Working Tax Credit target groups, as well as on the tax year earnings of working members of the New Deal 25 plus target group.
James Mirrlees, Stuart Adam, Richard Blundell, Tim Besley, Steve Bond, Robert Chote, Malcolm Gammie, Paul Johnson, Gareth Myles and James Poterba
In the deepest and most far reaching analysis of the UK tax system in more than 30 years, the Mirrlees Review puts the case for radical tax reform.
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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