Oil price boosts UK tax coffers
Oil's well for Gordon Brown, as tax revenues rise with oil prices
Government finances have received a boost from surging oil prices, which in turn have increased tax revenues in recent months, according to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.
Link: Oil giants should donate to ward off tax
Senior research fellow Ray Barrell told The Guardian that oil prices were about $10 a barrel higher than last quarter, which had boosted UK tax revenues by about £2bn in the fiscal year just ended.
But he thought that taxes would still need to rise by £7bn to £8bn a year in the next parliament to help the chancellor meet his fiscal ‘golden rules’.
The think-tank’s latest quarterly review of the global economy also found that the UK’s economic prospects were brighter than that of the US.