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What might the government’s future tax policy look like?

In planning for the future, businesses and individuals are trying to forecast the government’s future tax policy. John Endacott, Head of Tax at PKF Francis Clark, shares his thoughts on what the future might hold, including the government’s borrowing strategy, the possibility of an NHS tax and whether there might be tax rises ahead.

Outlook Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s March Budget was eagerly anticipated to give us an idea of what the future had in store post-Brexit. While the Comprehensive Spending Review was pushed back and there was growing uncertainty due to COVID-19, we were able to start to glimpse the future. But much has changed since the Budget on 11 March.

For 2020/21, government revenue was forecast at £873bn with spending of £928bn, leaving a deficit of £55bn. Over the next few years, the deficit was forecast to increase slightly. This followed a decade of the government’s austerity strategy which despite the original aspirations, failed to achieve its objective of eliminating the deficit.