Professor David Miles, a member of the Office for Budget Responsibility's Budget Responsibility Committee, has said that adding to the tax burden gets more costly for the economy the higher it already is. His comments were reported by City AM ahead of the Budget. City AM describes him as one of the three top members of the OBR.
Miles said lifting the tax burden from 40% to 45% of GDP would cost more in the short term than lifting it from 35% to 40%.
"There is a question about what extra cost you pay in terms of incentive distortions and the efficiency with which people operate an economy"
City AM also reports that he said the public have not lowered their expectations of what the state can do.
His remarks are a general point about the economics of taxation and do not refer to any specific measure in the Budget. John Healey, the Chancellor, delivers it to the Commons on Wednesday 28 October.