Tax burden to reach a third of GDP
E&Y analysis shows highest tax burden since early 1980s
With the Budget looming this week, Ernst & Young has calculated that the
tax burden, excluding North Sea oil revenues, will be 37.6% of gross domestic
product this year, close to the 37.7% peak reached in the early 1980s, the
Sunday Times reported.
Next year it will reach 37.8%, before rising to 38.1%, Ernst & Young
said, basing its figures on official Treasury numbers.
Peter Spencer, economic adviser to the Ernst & Young Item Club, said:
‘It’s an all-time high and we’re entering uncharted waters,’
Tax revenues will total £490bn compared to £271bn when Brown delivered his
first Budget speech 10 years ago.