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Available for over a year

On 26th November Rachel Reeves will present her second budget and the overwhelming expectation is that she will be reluctantly forced to raise taxes once again to stick to her borrowing rules. Expect anger and accusations that the Chancellor has betrayed promises. Yet, perhaps worse, our tax system is a complex mess, with apparently zero appetite from politicians of any party to reform it. So expect more complexity, more economic damage and even greater national frustration over tax later this autumn. Why do we find it so hard to have a grown-up national conversation about tax? Why are we seemingly so stuck? That’s what the economics journalist Ben Chu will be asking in the Tax Conundrum, a major new three part series for ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio 4. In the first episode Ben will hear from an impressive range of senior voices on the reasons the UK tax system has become such a mess and why we should all care. Former chancellor Philip Hammond talks frankly about his own failed battle to reform the system. Mervyn King, the former Bank of England governor - and author of a seminal textbook on the British tax system - explains the damage being done and critiques the popular idea that middle earners are currently overtaxed. Along the way, Ben meets a tax barrister who makes a bizarre living arguing in court over whether or not mega marshmallows are eaten with the fingers. He also takes a trip to an Essex care home, to see for himself why loading ever greater tax costs onto employers - in order to spare workers - is no free lunch. Presenter: Ben Chu Producer: Caroline Bayley Production coordinator: Janet Staples Sound engineer: Rod Farquhar Editor: Richard Vadon