UK will need to impose tax rises of £30bn to balance budget – IFS

Chancellor will fail to cut deficit by 2025 without extra taxes, Institute of Fiscal Studies says

Philip Hammond will need to impose tax rises worth at least 30bn to reach his target of balancing the public finances by 2025, undermining hopes that the chancellor will go into his autumn budget with plenty of spare cash to ease austerity, according to a leading economic thinktank.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said the government could be forced to find up to 41bn in extra taxes by the middle of the next decade once the costs of Britain's ageing population are taken into account.

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