Dr Barra Roantree

This presentation was given at the RES conference 2015.

As part of its deficit reduction programme, the coalition government has made numerous tax changes whose direct impact is to reduce borrowing by an estimated £16.4 billion in 2015–16. This Observation – and the accompanying new Election Briefing Note – shows how all this activity has done little to improve the structure of the tax system. Plenty of challenges remain for whoever wins the election in May.

This presentation was given at the launch of the IFS Green Budget 2015.

This presentation was given at the Public Economics Lecture on 15 December 2014.

This presentation was given at the IFS Public Economic Lectures on 16 December 2013 in London.

In a speech in Bedford today, the Leader of the Opposition, Ed Miliband, has proposed reintroducing a 10% income tax rate on a narrow band of income, to be paid for by a new ‘mansion tax’ on residential properties worth more than £2 million. In this observation, IFS researchers explain why there are better alternatives to both of these policies that would have similar distributional effects.