§ The proposals I shall be announcing today are part of a continuing programme of tax reform—a programme which has strengthened work incentives and improved the efficiency of the economy. In deciding where to look for additional revenue, I have been guided by a number of principles: first, that, where possible, money should be raised in a way that will not damage the working of the economy; secondly, that in general this means that reducing the value of allowances and broadening the tax base is preferable to increasing marginal tax rates; thirdly, that taxation should support social, health and environmental objectives.
§ I will deal with my revenue-raising proposals in two parts. I will start with my proposals for the year ahead, 1993–94; I will then describe the measures that I propose for the two years thereafter. For the year immediately ahead, as I have said, my proposals are very broadly neutral. The objective has been to strengthen the recovery 176 by giving help to business, but, in order to pay for that, I have had to raise revenue from other sectors of the economy.