Reforming the personal tax system

Understand this issue

Spring Budget 2024: What you need to know

podcast

IFS reaction to the Chancellor's Spring Budget.

7 March 2024

The way Chancellors respond to economic news adds to our debt - here's why

explainer

Chancellors don’t respond symmetrically to good and bad economic news. The result is higher debt.

1 March 2024

Should we worry about government debt?

podcast

David Miles joins us to discuss high government debt and its impact on the economy.

11 April 2024

Policy analysis

Recent trends in and the outlook for health-related benefits

report

Recipients of and spending on health-related benefits have risen rapidly since the start of the pandemic, posing a serious challenge for policymakers.

19 April 2024

4.2 million working-age people now claiming health-related benefits, could rise by 30% by the end of the decade

press release

Our new report sheds more light on forecasts for a substantial increase in the number of people claiming health-related benefits in coming years.

19 April 2024

Oil and gas make Scotland’s underlying public finances particularly volatile and uncertain

comment

A fallback in oil and gas prices has hit Scotland’s underlying public finance position this year.

27 March 2024

Academic research

Intertemporal income shifting and the taxation of business owner-managers

journal article

We show that responses of UK company owner-managers to personal taxes are due to intertemporal income shifting and not reductions in business activity

24 January 2024

Insurance, redistribution, and the inequality of lifetime income

working paper

This paper studies how the tax-and-transfer system mitigates income inequalities over the lifetime, which can lead to disparities in living standards.

2 November 2023

The menopause "penalty"

working paper

We estimate the effect of menopause diagnosis on employment and earnings, reliance on social safety net programs, and demand for medical care.

18 March 2024