Taxes and benefits

The Institute for Fiscal Studies has published a comprehensive analysis of the impact of the government’s current tax and benefit plans and the National Living Wage on household incomes and financial work incentives. This Observation article summarises the main findings of that report ahead of the 2015 Autumn Statement, when the Chancellor is expected to announce amendments to his planned cuts to tax credits. The report finds that both the package of tax and benefit changes, and the new ‘National Living Wage’ will, on average, strengthen incentives to move into paid work and to work more if in work.

Paul Johnson, writing for the BBC, outlines the history of housing benefit and the gradual diversion of government funding away from house building and towards subsidising rents.

Housing benefit costs us more today than it did before the welfare cuts took effect in 2010, writes Paul Johnson in The Times. Failure to build enough houses and tax regimes that discourage owner occupiers from downsizing have together pushed up property values. Increasing numbers of young people in particular now resort to paying spiralling rents – with the housing benefit bill taking the toll.

This presentation was delivered at the Public Economics UK conference (PEUK 2015), held at Exeter University on 3-4 September 2015.

This presentation was delivered at the Public Economics UK conference (PEUK 2015), held at Exeter University on 4 September 2015.

This presentation was delivered at the 71st Annual Congress of the International Institute of Public Finance (IIPF 2015), held at Trinity College, Dublin on 20-23 August 2015.

This presentation was delivered at the Work Pensions and Labour Economics (WPEG) conference 2015 at the University of Sheffield, on 28 July 2015.

This presentation was given at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), as part of an event entitled "Social protection and taxation", on 9 July 2015.

This presentation was given during a seminar entitled "Fiscal redistribution in developing countries", held at the Institute for Fiscal Studies on 10 July 2015.

This presentation was given at a conference organised by the Institute for Fiscal Studies' Centre for the Evaluation of Development Policies (EDePo), entitled "Improving productivity in developing countries: identifying bottlenecks and obstacles to productive investments and technology adoption", which took place on 8-9 July 2015.

This policy paper was presented at the EDePo 'Improving productivity in developing countries: identifying bottlenecks and obstacles to productive investments and technology adoption' conference held at Goodenough College on the 8th and 9th July 2015.

This policy paper was presented at the EDePo 'Improving productivity in developing countries: identifying bottlenecks and obstacles to productive investments and technology adoption' conference held at Goodenough College on the 8th and 9th July 2015.