Brexit critic to join budget watchdog
Rita de la Feria's appointment comes amid heightened scrutiny of the OBRThe Government’s spending watchdog has appointed an economist critical of Brexit to its advisory panel.Academic tax expert Rita de la Feria, who is also opposed to VAT cuts, is joining the oversight board at the Office for Budget Responsibility.She has particular expertise in VAT and how changes in the tax feed through to consumers and businesses – a specialism which chimes with the OBR’s role of estimating how tax and spending changes affect the economy, tax receipts and the budget deficit.Ms de la Feria has previously tweeted that Brexit was “a very sad day. To me personally, and to my family. But most of all to the young British people who will not enjoy the same rights that I (a product of free movement) have.”She has also described herself as “very persuasive – against cuts” to VAT for specific goods in the shops. Her tweets were first reported by the Guido Fawkes blog.Her studies have suggested that lower rat
The Government’s spending watchdog has appointed an economist critical of Brexit to its advisory panel.
Academic tax expert Rita de la Feria, who is also opposed to VAT cuts, is joining the oversight board at the Office for Budget Responsibility.
She has particular expertise in VAT and how changes in the tax feed through to consumers and businesses – a specialism which chimes with the OBR’s role of estimating how tax and spending changes affect the economy, tax receipts and the budget deficit.
Ms de la Feria has previously tweeted that Brexit was “a very sad day. To me personally, and to my family. But most of all to the young British people who will not enjoy the same rights that I (a product of free movement) have.”
She has also described herself as “very persuasive – against cuts” to VAT for specific goods in the shops. Her tweets were first reported by the Guido Fawkes blog.
Her studies have suggested that lower rates for individual products may result in higher profits for retailers, rather than the full tax cut being passed on to consumers.
Ms de la Feria has also called for the tax base to be widened, tweeting that Labour’s proposals to apply VAT to private school fees “could even be sold as a Brexit benefit. And for once, it would (probably) be true”.
The OBR found itself the subject of increased political attention last year, when Kwasi Kwarteng, then the Chancellor, decided against commissioning analysis from the watchdog to be published alongside his mini-Budget.
At a time of significant tax cuts and spending pressures, financial markets perceived this as a sign the Government was not interested in balancing the books.
Liz Truss later said the OBR is too critical of tax cuts, and that the result of giving the organisation too much say over the projected impact of tax and spending decisions “has been effectively to make the OBR a driver of fiscal policy”.
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