Reports

This Election Briefing Note looks at whether we can see a difference between the parties in their approach to taxes and benefits.

The UK pension system has been subject to almost continuous structural reform since the Social Security Act of 1975 introduced, from 1978, the State Earnings-Related Pension Scheme (SERPS).

This short note outlines some possible scenarios for the path of public spending beyond March 2004.

This Briefing Note reviews some of the major issues in the design and implementation of R&D tax credits. R&D tax credits have become a popular policy tool for encouraging R&D spending by business, with many countries offering subsidies of this form. Recent empirical evidence suggests that R&D tax credits are an effective instrument in stimulating additional R&D. However, in order to be desirable, a policy needs to be cost-effective and implementable.

This commentary discusses the rationale for directing financial support to families with children and assesses options for a new integrated child credit.

This Green Budget looks at the options available to the Chancellor in his March Budget.

This note looks at how the government might use policy to increase the amount of R&D done in the UK.

The Greater London Assembly is considering the introduction of a congestion charge for central London. This paper looks at what the costs of such a charge might be for different income groups.

This paper looks at the strategy of cutting Vehicle Excise Duty for people living in rural areas, and asks whether this would be an effective way of helping those most in need.

Focusing on the distributional consequences, this paper details the changes in the tax and benefit system in the Labour government's Budgets since they came to power in 1997.

Many writers have claimed that R&D has two 'faces'.

In this briefing note, we look at the arguments for and against a fuel tax.

This commentary examines the role of both the public and private sectors in delivering healthcare in the UK. How does the UK compare with other countries? What is the role of private finance in the delivery of healthcare? What variations in NHS quality are seen across the UK? How much additional pressure is there likely to be on the NHS budget in future as a result of an ageing population?

This report aims to shed some light on the complex issues that surround this debate. Topics addressed include recent trends in corporate tax systems, costs imposed by having diverse national corporate taxes within Europe, proposals for limited co-ordination of corporate income taxes within the EU and more ambitious options for corporate tax harmonisation.

This paper examines the impact of fiscal incentives on the level of R&D investment.

In October 1999 WFTC replaced Family Credit as the main package of in-work financial support for families with children. This note compares the results of three IFS projects assessing the effectiveness of the WFTC in getting people back to work.

This note looks at the kind of information people have on saving and how this effects their decisions to invest in the future. We also ask what policies could be used to provide people with clear information which they trust.