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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

Tickets are now on sale for the inaugural CenTax Residential Conference: 'Closing the Tax Gap'! 🗓️23-24 April 2026 📍University of Warwick 🤝Bringing together tax professionals, academics, civil servants and think tanks Book now!👇 centax.org.uk/tickets-now-...

centax.org.uk

📢 Tickets now available for CenTax Residential Conference 2026! | CenTax

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Reposted by Centre for the Analysis of Taxation

LSE Inequalities @lseinequalities.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

📣 The Centre for Analysis of Taxation (@centaxuk.bsky.social) are recruiting two new Research Economists. The postholder will conduct data analysis at the UK tax authority’s secure research facility, HMRC Datalab, in London. 📅 Apply by 1 February 2026

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JOB VACANCY: RESEARCH ECONOMIST | CenTax

Dec 17, 2025

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

🚨 We're hiring *two* Research Economist roles! 📍 Location: HMRC Datalab, London 📅 Deadline: 1 February 2026 💼 Duration: 2-year fixed term 💷 Salary: £33,002–£34,610 + £5,000 London weighting 🔗 Apply now: lnkd.in/eVZDYA4B

centax.org.uk

CenTax | Advancing understanding of taxation policy and making the evidence-based case for reform

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

📢 Job Alert: CenTax is hiring a Research Economist! 🔹 2-year role at HMRC Datalab 🔹 Economics or quant Master's required (completed by start) 🔹 Data analysis, research design & dissemination 🔹 Deadline: 1 Feb 2026 💼 Apply now 👉 centax.org.uk/job-vacancy-...

centax.org.uk

JOB VACANCY: RESEARCH ECONOMIST | CenTax

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

We expect high demand from tax professionals in particular, so early booking is advised. Sign up to our mailing list to be the first to know when booking opens! 👇 centax.org.uk/contact-us/

centax.org.uk

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

👀 Watch this space... Tickets will go on sale in January 2026, with an early-booking rate available for the first six weeks. To support balanced and diverse discussion, we will allocate ticket quotas across key categories of participant.

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

👂 Breakout sessions held under Chatham House rules drawing on participants’ direct experience. Topics will include conversations on regulating tax agents, HMRC’s capacity and service standards, & the contribution of other govt agencies and third-party data to closing the tax gap

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

🧐 'Where We Stand: The UK Tax Gap in 2026' 💷 Breaking Down the 60%: Understanding SMEs, Micro-Businesses and the Hidden Economy 💻 Data, Digitalisation and Tax Compliance 🛣️ The Long Game – Building a Roadmap to Close the Tax Gap

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

Programme highlights: 🎤 Keynote sessions from leading decision makers in the UK government alongside innovative perspectives from abroad Plenary panel discussions, including...

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

The conference will bring together tax professionals, think tanks, the civil service and academia for two days of discussion on the tax gap in the UK. Our full programme will be published in January.

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

📣 EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT 📣 We're really excited to announce our inaugural CenTax Residential Conference - Closing the Tax Gap! 🖋️ Closing the Tax Gap: CenTax Residential Conference 2026 🗓️ 23rd– 24th April 2026 📍 University of Warwick

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

🔔 Starting in half an hour! Join us in person or online.

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

Particularly, while it may feel hard politically to justify raising the threshold at which the Personal Allowance is tapered away & childcare allowances are withdrawn, holding this fixed at £100,000 will have ever worse economic consequences as more people enter this income range.

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

Freezing this threshold instead allows for a more gradual reversal, giving time for taxpayers to adjust. The same defence cannot be mounted for freezes to the other Income Tax thresholds...

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

This historic increase in the Personal Allowance was arguably a mistake, but nominal cuts would be both politically unpopular & create immediate hardship for some through large upfront changes in net income for taxpayers.

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

But, there's a reasonable case for freezing the Personal Allowance in particular. During the 2010s, it was increased significantly above inflation several times, nominally more than doubling over this period. This is a largely why Income Tax is now so dependent on higher earners.

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

The effect is also to increase tax in a way that is less progressive than rate increases of equal revenue, and it creates large increases in marginal tax rates for those close to a threshold.

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

➡️ Our view ➡️ There are several economic reasons why a threshold freeze is a bad way to raise Income Tax. The scale of revenue raised is uncertain and arbitrary, depending almost entirely on the future path of inflation: something the government does not control...

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

The extended freeze comes after more than a decade in which thresholds were uprated annually in line with CPI inflation. With thresholds held constant while wages continue to rise, more people are being brought into higher tax bands and are paying more tax as a result.

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

Income Tax thresholds have been frozen since April 2022, and this has now been extended for a further three years to 2030–31 alongside the National Insurance Contributions (NICs) secondary threshold. Previously, these thresholds had been expected to rise again in 2027–28.

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

Our Budget analysis continues, with explainers and comment on some of yesterday's key announcements. Next up - why has the government frozen Income Tax thresholds? 🥶

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

🏘️ Income Tax on property income 💸 Income Tax for dividends 💰 Income Tax on savings 🤝 Employee Ownership Trusts 🚗 EV road pricing Check out the full report here👇 centax.org.uk/budget-2025-...

centax.org.uk

Budget 2025 reaction | CenTax

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

Our full response to the Budget is now live. As well as our 'big picture' analysis, we provide quick explainers and comment on: 🏡 High Value Council Tax Surcharge 👴 Changes to pensions 🔄 Transferability of Inheritance Tax allowance 🥶 Income Tax threshold freeze ...

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

If the increase in Fuel Duty from April 2026 is actually implemented, the govt should be commended. While this staged approach feels more realistic than previous promises, the plan for the forthcoming rise to only begin in April leaves open the possibility of further delay.

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

Charging more per electric mile driven without increasing Fuel Duty would further worsen the incentives to purchase EVs. Successive governments kept Fuel Duty frozen in cash terms since 2011, and cut it ‘temporarily’ in 2022.

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

Other Budget measures are intended to improve EV take up, largely by encouraging businesses to purchase them. However, it is an open question whether these will be enough to offset the demand reduction from a higher cost per mile.

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

But - taxing EVs more heavily makes them less attractive relative to petrol & diesel vehicles. A particular problematic for drivers who do not have access to home charging facilities, as prices at commercial facilities already make EV miles more expensive than fossil fuel miles.

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

It also tackles a long-term fiscal challenge that successive governments have ducked: the gradual erosion of revenue from Fuel Duty as motorists switch to EVs.

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

➡️ Our view There is a reasonable case to bring EVs into road pricing, to account for the negative consequences on particulate pollution, congestion, and road wear and tear.

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

➡️ What's been announced? Today the Chancellor announced that from April 2028, electric cars will face a new “Electric Vehicle Excise Duty" (eVED) which applies at 3p per mile driven.

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

Another Budget policy at a glance - EV road pricing 🚗🧵

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

Reforms to Capital Gains Tax, or to the taxation of partnerships would have raised more money, while improving the structure of the tax system and (if this is a goal) being much more progressive.

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

While this has been presented as a tax on the wealthy, and it certainly is, the impact on the “super-rich” will be much smaller than for the merely affluent. This is because property is only a small share of wealth among the very wealthiest.

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

Maintaining 1991 values also means that across most houses, barring those above £2 million, the regressive nature of Council Tax remains in place.

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

Even more bizarrely, not updating Council Tax valuations means many of the properties caught by the surcharge are currently not even in the highest council tax band, and it appears that won’t change.

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

The most valuable houses are the hardest to revalue, so this would have been a good opportunity to update valuations across the board.

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

Given there has been no change in the system for over three decades, this is a step in the right direction. That said, there are some real downsides. The absurdity of using 1991 values for Council Tax remains in place for most properties, with no sign that this will be tackled.

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

➡️ Our view The reform tackles some of the unfairness created by Council Tax, by revaluing the most valuable properties and levying a top-up tax to partly counteract the regressivity of the standard Council Tax bands.

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

➡️ What's been announced? The reform creates 4 new bands for properties that in current prices are worth more than £2m. Those properties will continue paying their existing Council Tax, plus the new surcharge. The new surcharge will go to central govt (unlike standard CT).

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

📣 Throughout the day, we’ll be posting our reaction to specific policies announced in today’s Budget. 📣 First up, reforms to Council Tax 🏡🧵

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

It would be wise to start thinking about this now, because ten weeks out from the next Budget will be too late. Stay up to date with our Budget analysis here 👇 centax.org.uk/budget-2025-...

centax.org.uk

Budget 2025 reaction | CenTax

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

Outside government, the need for serious tax reform is universally accepted and there is remarkable agreement over how to do it. We must turn our attention to the reasons why successive governments have failed to deliver, despite this consensus.

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

Recently, authors from CenTax and eight other think tanks from across the political spectrum declared agreement on the way ahead. It’s regrettable that this Budget contains barely a hint of progress against any of the seven reform packages we proposed 👇 centax.org.uk/tax-reforms-...

centax.org.uk

Tax Reforms for Growth | CenTax

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

Overall, the tax changes announced today are unlikely to move the needle on growth much one way or the other. A strategy for pro-growth tax reforms is already out there and ready to be picked up...

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

For a government that’s supposedly obsessed with growth, we seem no closer to the realisation that our broken tax system is part of the UK’s growth problem, and that major structural reforms – not just rate-changes or more bolt-ons – are needed to fix it.

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

There's still no sense that the govt has a vision for a good tax system - or a strategy for getting there. In this climate, even moves in the right direction (e.g. Council Tax) come across as ad hoc revenue-grabs not principled efforts to make the system fairer & more efficient.

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Centre for the Analysis of Taxation @centaxuk.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

This may feel like a ‘big Budget’ of tax reforms, but that’s only because successive governments have done so little in the way of serious reform that we’ve forgotten what it looks like.

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