Tax rises predicted

Analysts believe that taxes will be increased during the next economic cycle in an attempt to plug a perceived budget deficit.

17:04 22 November 2004

Analysts believe that taxes will be increased during the next economic cycle in an attempt to plug a perceived budget deficit, a new poll has found.

A study by the TaxPayers' Alliance (TPA), published ahead of the December 2nd Pre-Budget Report, also found that key figures in the City of London anticipate a deficit in 2005/06.

TPA chief executive Matthew Elliott said: "Taxpayers across the country will be very worried to hear that Britain's top economic forecasters are virtually unanimous in predicting tax increases after the election.

" But higher taxes are not the answer," he added, pointing out that the Gershon Report, the James Commission and "numerous other studies" have found "rampant waste" in the public sector.

"Mr Brown must urgently address the growing crisis in the UK's public finances and resist the urge to hike taxes or the Government will face a backlash from taxpayers," he concluded.

The TPA polled 20 of the Treasury's independent forecasters, as well as the Institute of Directors and Monument Securities, to find out their expectations for tax plans in the current economic cycle.

All bar one of the analysts polled predicted taxes will rise if the Chancellor's golden rule, that the Government may only borrow to invest over the course of an economic cycle, is broken.