NOW GET SET FOR EVEN HIGHER TAXES

MILLIONS WARNED THEY’LL BE WORSE OFF NEXT YEAR — AND BILLS COULD KEEP GROWING

- Nicholas Cecil and David Bond

MILLIONS of people will be worse off next year with record levels of tax which could rise even higher over the next decade, leading economists warned today.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said Chancellor Rishi Sunak had given himself leeway to lower taxes by some £7 billion in the run-up to the next election, expected in 2024. However, the highly-respected economic think tank believes these reductions are likely to be only “temporary” and that in the years after the election the tax burden could go up again and by even more.

“I would be very surprised if the tax burden in a decade’s time is less than it is now and indeed I would not be at all surprised if it is more,” IFS director Paul Johnson told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “That is an inevitable consequence, partly of growing richer, all be it slowly, but also a consequence of demographic change in an ageing population.” In its verdict on the Budget and Comprehensive Spending Review, the IFS said:

The Chancellor had made “historic tax increases” this year, upping them by £40 billion, to plough billions more into the NHS, to tackle the social care crisis and boost spending for other Whitehall departments.