ABSTRACT
This chapter compares particular taxes according to a number of different measures, in order to show under what circumstances a tax goes up, remains stable or declines. It identifies a variety of patterns of change in British taxes, and compares with data from other Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development nations to see whether patterns are specific to one country, or cross-nationally characteristic of a particular tax but varying within a nation from tax to tax. Cross-national attributes of taxes have a limited capacity to explain the dynamics of taxes within Britain. Inflation is prima facie a major determinant of the big increase in tax revenue in post-war Britain. The increase in total tax revenue since 1948 could result from an infinity of permutations of changes among the taxes that constitute the national tax system. Economic growth and inflation can increase total tax revenue by changing the tax base, which in turn produces more revenue from a given tax rate.
