Further tax rises

IFS warns tax raid could be first of manyThe Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has warned that the new Health and Social Care Levy of an additional 1.25% points on workers and their employers is likely to be just the start of efforts to plug a void in the pandemic-hit health service. The IFS’s Ben Zaranko said the new tax could be ratcheted up, saying: "It seems likely that any future government seeking to raise taxes to fund rising health spending would look first at the new Health and Social Care Levy. That might be the path of least resistance, but repeatedly pulling that lever would mean shifting even more of the tax burden towards earnings and towards working-age people."