It has been claimed that, in spite of the UK government’s desire to see lower taxation, the level of taxation in 2000 was higher than in 1979. Is this claim correct? You should gather data which you think appropriate to the task, summarise it as necessary and write a brief report of your findings. You might like to consider the following points:

• Should one consider tax revenue, or revenue as a proportion of GNP?
• Should one distinguish between tax rates and the tax base (i.e. what is taxed)?
• Has the balance between direct and indirect taxation changed?
• Have different sections of the population fared differently?

You might like to consider other points, and do the Problem for a different country. Suitable data sources for the UK are: Inland Revenue Statistics, UK National Accounts, Annual Abstract of Statistics or Financial Statistics.