One in five workers will be higher-rate taxpayers by 2027 – IFS

A staff nurse. The IFS said that better-paid public sector workers will be among the almost 8m people paying income tax at 40% or above as a result of the Treasury’s income tax policy. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

One in four teachers and one in eight nurses will be higher-rate taxpayers by 2027 as a result of the government’s record freeze on income tax allowances and thresholds, according to a leading thinktank.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies said better-paid public sector workers will be among the almost 8 million people – one in five of all taxpayers – who will pay income tax at 40% or above as result of the Treasury’s attempt to reduce the UK’s budget deficit.