How to fix income tax

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In the first episode of our new mini-series on how to fix the UK’s tax system, Helen is joined by Stuart Adam and Ben Zaranko to explore income tax - the cornerstone of government revenue, and one of the most confusing parts of our system.

Why do we have two separate taxes on earnings? Why do odd kinks and cliff edges exist that distort behaviour? And what would a well-designed income tax actually look like?

This episode dives deep into the structure of income tax and National Insurance, revealing how small design flaws create big inefficiencies - and what we can do to fix them.

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00:00 - Introduction
3:47 - What is tax design?
8:45 - Fairness
10:56 - Neutrality
13:40 - Income tax and National Insurance contributions
14:23 - Income tax and NICs rates
16:20 - Thresholds
20:00 - How well-designed is income tax?
20:40 - The 100k cliff edge
26:07 - Child benefit withdrawal
31:30 - National Insurance contributions
37:30 - Should we merge income tax and NICs?
42:05 - Conclusion