Income tax hike 'least damaging' way to fix black hole, Reeves told

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

66% : Adding 3p to the basic and higher rates of income tax would be less harmful than ramping up VAT, corporation tax, or a raft of smaller taxes, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr) said.
62% : Rachel Reeves has been told raising income tax in next month's Budget is the "least damaging" way to plug a £30bn hole in the public finances.
50% : The Resolution Foundation, an influential Left-leaning think tank, has proposed adding 2p to income tax while cutting 2p from employees' National Insurance contributions to raise £6bn per year.
50% : Even the Institute of Directors, which represents company bosses, has said the Government must raise income tax to stabilise the national finances if it is politically unable to cut spending.
46% : The Institute for Government has also argued that tax increases should "fall on those with average incomes".
44% : It comes amid a wave of calls for the Chancellor to focus her efforts on income tax - which raked in £305bn for the Exchequer last year.

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