Tax rise risk from Chancellor's budget target

clock • 1 min read

Sudden and sharp tax rises or spending cuts could be on the horizon because of Chancellor George Osborne's "inflexible" budget surplus target, independent economists have said.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) have made the warning about Osborne's pledge to run a budget surplus "in normal times" from 2019-20, saying it would require a "precarious balancing act". The result could be "big tax rises or spending cuts with very little notice", the IFS said, according to the BBC. The next Budget is on 16 March. The IFS publishes its annual Green Budget document ahead of the actual Budget every year, highlighting economic conditions and the challenges facing the Chancellor. The independent economic think tank branded Osborne's target of a balancing the ...

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