Box sets » Fiscal drag and price uprating
Between March 2021 and November 2022, almost all the main allowances and thresholds in income tax and national insurance contributions (NICs) were frozen rather than indexed to inflation, as is the default in nearly all cases, up to and including 2027-28. The Chancellor has subsequently announced personal tax cuts that are due to offset around a half of the resulting impact on the personal tax burden by 2028-29. In this box, we showed estimates for total effects of these policy decisions on work incentives, given high inflation, over the period from 2021-22 to 2028-29.
In our November 2023 forecast we expect inflation to be both more persistent and more domestically generated than in March. In this box we explored the reasons behind our assessment for inflation to be more domestically rather than externally driven and its implications for the public finances.
This box discussed the continuing impact of the multiple freezes and changes to personal tax thresholds between March 2021 and November 2022. It provided an update on the estimated receipts from these policies, and the additional number of tax payers by tax band.
In our March 2023 Economic and fiscal outlook, we evaluate the impact of the freeze or reduction of various personal tax thresholds since April 2021. This box looked at the receipts generated by these measures as well as the impact on taxpayers: the number of new taxpayers these measures create and the number of taxpayers pulled into higher and additional rates.
In our March 2023 Economic and fiscal outlook, we evaluate the distorting impact of the frozen VAT registration threshold – the turnover threshold at which firms must register for VAT. This box looked at the tendency for businesses to bunch just below the threshold, as they limited their turnover to avoid needing to register. At the time of the box the threshold had been frozen at £85,000, and was due to remain at that level until the end of March 2026.
This box considered the reasons for particular strength in income tax receipts since 2019. It covered the growth in aggregate pay across the income distribution using RTI data; looked at pay growth and effective tax rate by sector since 2019; and finally at how the freeze to tax thresholds from April 2022 will compound this strength in receipts.
We updated our July 2013 analysis of fiscal drag on income tax and NICs to reflect new data, our latest assumptions and the effect of measures announced over the past year. This box outlined how fiscal drag effects income tax and NICs receipts and the long-term assumptions used.
We updated our 2012 analysis of fiscal drag on income tax and NICs to reflect new data, our latest assumptions and the effect of measures announced over the past year. This box outlined how fiscal drag effects income tax and NICs receipts and the long-term assumptions used.
We updated our 2011 analysis of fiscal drag on income tax and NICs to reflect new data, our latest assumptions and the effect of measures announced over the past year. This box outlined how fiscal drag effects income tax and NICs receipts and the long-term assumptions used.