Symposium: tax equity around the world - introduction

Understand this issue

Drastic times need drastic action: breaking the 50-year tax taboo

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Rachel Reeves should consider increasing the basic rate, just as Denis Healey did in 1975 

14 April 2025

Average household consumption spending before and after housing costs, and mean weekly per-capita income, in different local authorities, 2018–2019

data item

Londoners may have the highest average incomes, but their household spending once you account for housing costs is lower than other regions.

11 April 2025

Rank of local authorities by average household income compared to rank by average consumption after housing costs

data item

On average, London local authorities rank at the top of the income distribution, but are bottom of the net-of-housing consumption distribution.

11 April 2025

Policy analysis

IFS ‘Be the Chancellor’ tool illustrates all-important choices at upcoming Spending Review

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The 'Be the Chancellor' tool, built by IFS researchers in partnership with Nesta, illustrates key choices and fiscal challenges Rachel Reeves faces.

21 May 2025

Radical tax and spending plans are fine, but they must be realistic

comment

The rise of Reform and the Greens is healthy for democracy, but not if their manifestos are sheer fantasy 

12 May 2025

Which places have the highest standard of living?

comment

Measuring living standards using average household spending gives a starkly different picture of regional inequalities than using average income.

11 April 2025

Academic research

Measuring cost of living inequality during an inflation surge

working paper

We provide new evidence that inflation inequality surged during the 2021–2023 cost-of living crisis.

9 May 2025

Landfill tax and recycling

journal article

This paper provides new empirical evidence on the role of landfill taxes in reducing landfill waste and promoting recycling.

6 May 2025

Estimating intra-household sharing from time-use data

working paper

Estimating intra-household sharing is crucial to understanding overall inequality. However, expenditure data is almost always at the household level.

2 May 2025